RAMECH 
1  CHICAGO 


'Le  Long  d'une  petite  rivtfre"  (Big  Rock  Creek).      ''Where  with  the  spring  comes  nature' 
loveliest  dress."      (Thotn  hy  Lincoln,  Piano,  III.) 


Lost  Maramech  and 
Earliest  Chicago 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  FOXES  AND  OF 

THEIR  DOWNFALL  NEAR  THE 

GREAT  VILLAGE  OF 

MARAMECH 

Original  Investigations  and  Discoveries 

BY 

JOHN    F.    STEWARD 

ASSISTANT  GEOLOGIST  OF  THE  COLORADO  RIVER  EXPLORING  EXPEDI 
TION,  l87l;  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MARAMECH  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
OF  KENDALL  CO.,  ILL.;    MEMBER  OF  THE  ILLINOIS 
HISTORICAL  SOCIETY;  MEMBER  OF  THE 

CHICAGO  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


Chicago  New  York  Toronto 

Fleming  H.   Revell  Company 

London        &       Edinburgh 
MCMIII 


Copyright,  1903,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

(June) 


Chicago:  63  Washington  Street 
New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street,  W 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  30  St.  Mary  Street 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  directed,  in  the  main,  to  putting 
together  the  history  of  a  people  which  reaches  us 
in  fragments  only.  Some  of  the  fragments  were 
dug  from  the  military  archives  of  France  several 
years  ago,  but  the  most  important  ones,  those  con 
nected  with  what  may  practically  be  considered  the 
destruction  of  one  of  the  fiercest  people  of  America, 
or,  at  least,  taming  it  by  a  merciless  war,  were 
recently  found  by  Prof.  Charles  M.  Andrist,  whom 
I  engaged  to  make  searches  in  the  Bibliothdque 
Nationale  and  the  Archives  of  the  Minister  of  the 
Marine,  in  Paris. 

Of  the  measures  planned  at  Versailles  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Fox  tribe,  the  carrying  out  of 
none  was  more  fatal  than  that  of  1730,  although  it 
is  probable  that  a  smaller  number  of  the  fated  tribe 
bit  the  dust  than  a  few  years  earlier  at  Butte  des 
Morts,  on  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin.  Where  the 
affair  of  1730  took  place  had  been  lost  up  to  my 
discovery  of  an  ancient  earthwork  near  Piano,  Illi 
nois,  that  had  undoubtedly  been  palisaded;  since 
then  I  have  devoted  much  time  in  attempts  that, 
fortunately,  have  proved  successful,  to  determine 
what  actually  took  place,  and  its  date. 

The  descriptions  of  the  lay  of  the  land,  found  in 
old  records,  apply  to  the  site  of  ancient  Maramech 
so  exactly  that  I  have  felt  warranted  in  placing  a 
stone  on  the  hill  that  shall  connect  the  story  with 

5 


9854.48 


6  PREFACE 

the  place  and  mark  the  site  of  the  old  fort  until  the 
granite  crumbles. 

The  diversity  in  spelling  the  names  of  places  has 
been  great  and,  in  putting  the  fragments  in  the 
form  of  a  story,  necessarily  broken,  I  have  not  fol 
lowed  the  orthography  of  the  various  writers  except 
where  it  would  be  improper  to  do  otherwise. 
Where  I  have  taken  fragments  that  may  be  found  in 
many  places,  as  in  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Collection, 
New  York  Colonial  Documents,  Smith's  History  of  Wis 
consin^  etc.,  I  have  not  always  taken  care  to  give 
credit;  in  other  words,  where  the  subject-matter  is 
everywhere  accessible  to  the  public,  and  is  a  mere 
copy  of  some  document,  I  have  not  taken  the  trouble 
to  mention  the  channels  through  which  it  came  to 
hand.  The  best  English  is  not  found  in  some  of 
the  translations  I  have  copied,  but  it  has  been 
thought  advisable  to  make  no  change. 

This  book  has  been  prepared  not  to  profit  the 
author,  but  for  profit  to  those  who  are  or  may 
become  interested  in  early  western  history.  Few 
modern  authors  are  quoted,  as  I  have  preferred  to 
go  to  the  original  sources  of  information  In  order 
to  become  able  to  do  so,  I  have  examined  a  multi 
tude  of  old  maps  and  have  explored  the  Quays  of 
Paris,  the  Antiquarian  book  stores  of  the  largest 
English  and  Scotch  cities,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
United  States,  with  the  result  that  original  editions 
of  most  of  the  early  French  writings  are  before  me. 
My  main  dependence  has  been  upon  histories  and 
accounts  published  before  the  year  1750;  the  prin 
cipal  authors  quoted  being  La  Salle,  Tonti,  Henne- 
pin,  the  Jesuits  (Jesuit  Relations),  La  Hontan,  La 


PREFACE  7 

Potherie,  Perrot,  Charlevoix,  Margry's  Collections, 
and  the  collection  known  as  the  New  York  Colonial 
Documents.  The  last  two  are  compilations  merely 
of  original  English  and  French  documents  bearing 
upon  the  early  travels  and  explorations  in  America. 
From  the  many  thousand  pages  constituting  these 
collections  of  documents,  and  from  the  authors  above 
mentioned,  I  have  been  able,  during  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century,  to  gather  scraps  of  history  that,  when 
put  in  order,  tell  the  story  of  Maramech  as  well  as 
of  the  defeat  and  destruction  of  the  Fox  tribe.  Not 
to  books  alone  must  I  give  credit,  however,  but  also 
to  my  spade,  my  only  servant  in  my  years  of  labor. 
I  have  not  dared  to  attempt  to  avail  myself  of  the 
aid  of  a  romantic  pen,  to  smoothly  join  the  gath 
ered  fragments,  and  this  must  be  my  apology  for 
the  broken  narrative. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Illustrations 

PAGE 

"Le  long  d'une  petite  riviere"  (Big  Rock  Creek).  .Frontispiece 

Scalps  taken  were  proofs  of  bravery n 

Site  of  the  Great  Village  of  Maramech  and  of  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  larger  part  of  the  Fox  Tribe  in  1730  21 

Maramech  Hill,  from  the  South 29 

Specimens  of  the  Ceramic  Art,  from  the  Site  of  Maramech    35 
Maramech  Hill  showing  the  "gentle  slope"  mentioned  in 

the  military  reports 36 

One  of  the  Twin  Rocks 38 

The  Kishwaukee  Trail 43 

Work  of  the  Potters  of  Maramech 48 

Relics  of  the  Miller  and  His  Mill 54 

Pu-ci-ti-nig-wa,  His  Counsellors  and  the  Interpreter,  Fox 

Reservation 80 

Fair  Specimens,  Tama  Reservation 95 

Hundreds  of  Arrow  Heads  Turned  up  by  the  Plow 121 

The  Cemetery,  Tama  Reservation 121 

The  Dancers,  Tama  Reservation 143 

The  Dog  Sacrifice,  Tama  Reservation 143 

Joseph  Tisson,  the  Interpreter,  and  Child,  Tama  Reserva 
tion 161 

Fair  Ones  of  the  Tama  Reservation 231 

Harvesting  Wild  Rice 231 

The  Present  and  Future  269 

Lettering  the  Massive  Boulder 281 

Frame  of  Fox  Wigwam,  Tama  Reservation 291 

Fox  Wigwam,  Tama  Reservation 291 

Site  of  De  Villiers'  "Cavalier"  (Little  Fort) 295 

"Now  the  hill's  gentle  slope  is  shocked  only  by  the  battles 

of  the  elements' ' 309 

The  Chief's  Wigwam,  Tama  Reservation 343 

Inscription  on  Boulder  (translated  into  Fox  language  and 

shown  in  Fox  script) 344 

Shaubena,  a  Pottawatomie  Chief  354 


CHAPTER  I 

We  are  told  that  the  natives  of  the  New  World 
were  savages;  as  reported  by  intruders  into  their 
country,  they  appear  so  to  have  been.  To  those 
who  intruded,  no  doubt,  the  natives  seemed  tame 
less;  if  tameless  meant  inability  to  turn  to  our 
domestic  ways,  more  savage  in  many  respects  than 
their  own,  they  were  indeed  tameless.  If  it  was 
thought  by  the  invaders  that  to  defend  homes  and 
kindred,  to  drive  intruders  from  the  hunting- 
grounds  that  constituted  their  fields  of  sustenance, 
rendered  them  worthy  of  the  name,  they  were  sav 
ages.  Nevertheless  I  have  experienced  every 
degree  of  kindness  at  the  hands  of  a  few  of  these 
tameless  people,  whom  I  know  to  be  savages,  accord 
ing  to  our  acceptation  of  the  term,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  only  comparative.  The  Indian  mother  is 
not  alone  a  savage  because  sometimes  moved  to  the 
fierceness  of  a  tigress,  for  her  pale-face  sister,  in 
defending  her  child,  with  tooth  and  nail  will  tear 
the  flesh  of  him  who  would  take  from  her  her  off 
spring. 

Where  sets  the  sun  a  few  remain — savages  still. 
I  have  been  with  them  in  their  homes,  have  shared 
with  them,  and,  in  turn,  have  accepted  their  hos 
pitality.  One  incident,  in  the  far  west,  in  the 

9 


io  LOST   MARAMECH 

rugged  canon  of  the  Colorado  river,  I  shall  not  for 
get.  Memory  still  vividly  pictures  a  rude  shelter  of 
willows,  cut  by  my  comrades  and  leaned  together — 
willow  branches  upon  the  sand  of  the  shore  in  the 
canons  of  the  Colorado  river,  my  bed.  A  shout 
from  the  cliff  announced  the  nearness  of  a  friend. 
Signalled  to  approach,  a  stalwart  Navajo  descended. 
Drawing  near  he  heard  the  moans  of  an  afflicted 
man,  and  his  sympathies  were  aroused.  His  tongue 
was  untrained  to  our  language,  but  a  few  gestures 
and  words  of  Spanish  sufficed  to  make  me  under 
stand  that,  if  I  thought  myself  able  to  ride,  he 
would  take  me  on  one  of  his  ponies  to  the  Mormon 
settlement.  Although  a  savage,  he  was  willing  to 
turn  back  on  his  trail  and  take  me  where  I  could  be 
better  cared  for. 

Asking  no  reward,  he  offered  to  travel  thither  and 
back,  two  hundred  miles,  in  my  behalf.  Agua 
Grande!  How  noble  he  looks  to  me,  through  the 
years!  In  form  and  every  feature  he  seemed  like 
one  of  nature's  noblest.  His  sympathy  cheered  me 
as  he  bent  over,  and  shone  in  his  storm-beaten  face 
as  tenderly  as  in  the  face  of  woman. 

Savage  we  say  the  natives  were,  because  they 
inflicted  pain  without  a  thought  of  mercy — so  the 
foreign  intruders  thought.  They  were,  in  fact,  indif 
ferent  to  the  agonies  of  their  enemies  taken  in  war, 
when  burning  them  at  the  stake;  so  were  the  bigots 
of  the  religious  denominations  in  the  Old  World, 
when,  with  fire  and  rack,  they  were  torturing  those 
who  disputed  their  dogmas.  The  natives  burned  a 
captive  in  order  to  terrify  his  tribe,  their  enemy. 
In  so  doing  they  seemed  heartless;  but  were  not  the 


Scalps  taken  were  proofs  of  bravery. 
(From  Schootcraft. ) 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  n 

British  magistrates  heartless  when  burning  witches? 
The  natives  were  considered  not  to  have  passed  the 
state  of  barbarism  because  they  were  superstitious; 
that  is,  the  natives  were  charged  with  being  super 
stitious  by  those  who  themselves  believed  in  witch 
craft,  and  thought  that  they  were  doing  God  a 
service  by  beginning,  here  on  earth,  the  torments  of 
the  hell  they  so  fervently  believed  in.  These  bigots 
were  not  willing  to  leave  those  they  condemned 
wholly  to  God,  and  their  punishment  to  Him  at  the 
day  of  judgment.  As  compared  with  our  ancestors, 
the  natives  were  indeed  unrefined,  particularly  in 
methods  of  inflicting  torture.  They  even  tore  off 
the  finger  nails  of  captives  with  their  teeth,  and  did 
many  cruel  things  in  as  crude  a  way.  How  much 
more  scientifically  the  operations  might  have  been 
performed!  Pincers  of  steel  would  also  have  been 
more  convenient,  had  they  been  furnished  by  their 
newly-arrived  brothers,  who  so  long  had  used  them 
in  Europe  to  lacerate  the  hands  of  heretics,  in 
efforts  to  convince  them  of  their  error  in  matters  of 
belief.  The  children  of  the  forest  were  taught  that, 
to  be  a  warrior,  to  be  brave,  when  captured  or  tor 
tured,  was  the  height  to  which  ambition  should 
aspire,  and  that  to  take  the  scalp  of  an  enemy  was 
the  greatest  of  achievements.  He  killed  for  glory. 
The  nearest  approach  to  a  law  was  "an  eye  for  an 
eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth";  so  he  slew  the  mur 
derer  of  a  relative  or  of  a  friend.  They  killed  in 
revenge,  but  seldom  to  rob.  They  rarely  slaugh 
tered  animals  for  sport  merely.  They  kept  no 
"game  preserves"  in  which  to  gratify  their  savage 
instincts,  as  do  many  of  the  wealthy  up  to  this,  the 


12  LOST   MARAMECH 

third  year  of  the  twentieth  century.  They  killed 
the  innocent  birds  for  feathers  with  which  to  deck 
their  heads  and  pipes  of  peace,  but  did  that  neces 
sarily  show  them  to  be  barbarous?  While  I  write  a 
Christian  lady  passes  my  window,  her  head  adorned 
with  a  hat  on  which  the  wing,  the  head,  and  tail 
feathers  of  a  large,  dark-hued  bird  are  stitched. 
She  is  dressed  in  mourning;  the  life  of  an  innocent 
bird  was  taken  to  add  an  emphasizing  mark  to  her 
grief. 

Let  us  cease  to  cast  stones  until  we  are  ourselves 
without  sin.  Those  who  have  sought  acquaintance 
with  the  red  man  at  the  point  of  the  sword  have  not 
learned  his  better  nature.  The  highway  robber  does 
not  win  our  love;  trespassers  on  one's  rights  do  not 
inspire  kind  words  and  smiles.  We  must  not  judge 
of  the  Indian,  as  pictured  by  the  whites,  for  they 
tell  us  of  him  only  as  he  was  after  his  contamina 
tion  by  them.  My  story  is  one  of  wrongs;  it  is  one 
of  woes;  it  is  of  wars  of  extermination,  with  all  that 
they  imply.  Could  I  dip  my  pen  in  the  blood  of 
the  innocent,  I  might  make  my  story  impressive, 
were  it  not  that  our  language  is,  alas,  so  weak.  If 
to  torture  marks  the  savage,  then  what  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Illinois,  who,  after  taking  possession  of 
Kaskaskia,  committed  the  following  act? 

"Illinois,  to  wit:  To  Richard  Winston,  Esq., 
Sheriff-in-chief  of  the  District  of  Kaskaskia: 

"Negro  Manuel,  a  Slave  in  your  custody,  is  con 
demned  by  the  Court  of  Kaskaskia,  after  having 
made  honorable  Fine  at  the  Door  of  the  Church,  to 
be  chained  to  a  post  at  the  Water-Side  and  there 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  13 

to  be  burnt  alive  and  his  ashes  scattered,  as  appears 
to  me  by  the  Record.  This  sentence  you  are  hereby 
required  to  put  in  execution  on  Tuesday  next  at  9 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  this  shall  be  your  war 
rant.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Kaskaskia, 
the  I3th  day  of  June,  in  the  third  year  of  the  Com 
monwealth." 

We  have  a  better  nature  that  sometimes  sways  us. 
So  had  they,  but  as  we  know  them  now  they  seem 
to  have  reached  the  lowest  degradation.  By  nature 
they  were  honest,  but  we  taught  them  to  be  thieves; 
were  truthful,  but  learned  to  lie  from  the  white  man. 
They  were  not  avaricious,  and  hence  not  selfish. 
They  were  so  hospitable  that  even  an  enemy  was 
safe  among  them  while  partaking  of  their  hospi 
tality.  Before  I  begin  my  story  let  us  become 
acquainted  with  them  as  they  were  when  found. 

Peter  Martyr,  Columbus,  and  others  who  were 
first  to  meet  the  red  man,  spoke  in  praise.  La 
Fiteau  said: 

"The  savages  have  good  intellects,  lively  imagina 
tions,  ready  conception,  admirable  memory.  All 
have  at  least  some  traces  of  an  ancient  and  hereditary 
religion  and  a  form  of  government;  they  reason 
logically  upon  their  affairs;  they  reach  their  end 
by  sure  means;  they  are  deliberative,  and  with  a 
composure  which  exceeds  our  patience;  by  reason 
of  honor,  and  by  grandeur  of  soul,  they  never  anger, 
appear  always  masters  of  themselves;  they  never 
show  passions;  they  are  high-minded  and  proud, 
and  put  to  the  proof,  show  great  courage,  intrepid 
valor,  a  constancy  in  the  torments  which  is  heroic, 


I4  LOST   MARAMECH 

and  an  equanimity  that  misfortune  and  reverses  can 
not  alter.  Among  themselves  they  have  a  degree 
of  politeness  of  manner  which  guards  them  from 
unkindness,  a  respect  for  the  aged,  a  deference  for 
their  equals  which  is  really  surprising  and  that  one 
scarcely  reconciles  with  the  independence  and  the 
freedom  of  which  they  appear  extremely  jealous; 
they  caress  but  little,  and  make  few  demonstrations; 
but  notwithstanding  that,  they  are  good  and  affable 
and  exercise  toward  the  stranger  and  the  unfortunate 
a  hospitality  which  might  well  put  all  of  the  nations 
of  Europe  to  blush." 

Volumes  might  be  quoted  to  show  the  better  side 
of  their  natures.  I  am  pardonable  for  not  telling  of 
their  vices,  for  every  schoolboy  has  heard  and  seen 
the  savage  pictured  since  infancy,  and  blood-cur 
dling  stories  have  fed  his  imagination  to  satiety. 
We  prate  of  our  virtues;  does  it  not  seem  strange 
that  we  imparted  only  our  vices  to  them?  The 
red  race  is  passing  away,  as  by  a  pestilence,  and 
that  by  the  too  ready  adoption  of  the  habits  and  evil 
ways  of  the  white  man.  Have  we  adopted  one  of 
the  many  virtues  these  people  were  credited  with 
possessing  when  our  fathers  came  among  them? 
What  one  of  our  vices  did  we  not  impart  to  them? 
Drink  was  unknown,  but  we  made  them  drunkards; 
and  that,  too,  in  order  to  cheat  them  more  easily. 
We  accepted  their  one  bad  habit,  only  to  magnify  it 
and  make  it  more  disgusting.  How  well  fitted  is  the 
white  father  to  kiss  the  lips  of  the  loved  ones,  his 
own  lips  stained  with  the  foul-smelling  weed,  and  to 
caress  his  babes,  his  clothing  saturated  with  an 
odor  that  stings  the  olfactory  nerves. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  15 

Fast-fading,  degenerate  race!  Well  may  we  bow 
our  heads  in  shame  before  you!  Pity  you?  Alas! 
It  is  too  late;  but  remorse  should  yet  consume  us. 
Too  late?  No,  it  is  too  early;  it  is  too  early  in  the 
development  of  the  human  race  for  the  proper  exer 
cise  of  pity.  How  can  the  heart  of  one  who  burns 
a  human  being  at  the  stake  melt  with  pity?  How 
can  the  hearts  of  those  who  mob  a  mere  suspect  be 
wrung  in  tears?  This]  very  night,  this  very  minute, 
unless  this  night  is  an  exception,  in  this  busy  Chris 
tian  city,  its  streets  brilliant  with  electric  lights,  its 
spires  reaching  far  heavenward,  and  their  bells  call 
ing  to  evening  prayers,  a  laborer  returning  to  his 
home  with  his  week's  earnings  is  "held  up." 
Purses  are  snatched  from  women's  hands.  To-mor 
row  morning  the  police  court  will  be  crowded.  The 
shelves  of  the  libraries  of  the  civilized  world  groan 
under  their  loads  of  books  of  law,  yet  in  all  the 
so-called  enlightened  countries  enough  policemen, 
and  other  officers,  cannot  be  maintained  to  enforce 
the  laws.  We  lie,  we  cheat,  we  murder,  and  violate 
every  moral  law,  as  we  did  two  -hundred  years  ago; 
and  yet,  as  we  did  two  hundred  years  ago,  we  send 
missionaries  among  those  who  live  more  moral  lives 
than  we.  Three  hundred  years  ago  few  laws  were 
known  to  the  people  of  America,  unless  perhaps  in 
Mexico  and  Peru.  The  people  were  without  enacted 
laws,  but  were  not  lawless.  They  had  governments; 
but  those  governments  were  founded  on  the  moral  law. 

Is  there  another  side  to  their  nature?  As  certain 
as  it  is  that  we,  who  are  said  to  have  been  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  have  a  brutish  side  to  our  natures. 
Peter  Martyr  said: 


16  LOST   MARAMECH 

"It  is  certain  that  the  land  among  these  people  is 
as  common  as  the  sun  and  water,  and  that  mine  and 
thine,  the  seed  of  all  misery,  have  no  place  with 
them.  They  are  content  with  so  little  that,  in  such 
a  large  country,  they  have  rather  a  superfluity  than 
a  scarceness,  so  that  they  live  in  the  golden  world 
without  toil,  living  in  the  open  gardens  not  in 
trenched,  divided  with  hedges,  or  defended  with 
walls.  They  deal  truly,  one  with  another,  without 
laws,  without  books,  without  judges.  They  take 
him  for  an  evil  and  mischievous  man  who  taketh 
pleasure  in  doing  hurt  to  another;  and  albeit  they 
delight  not  in  superfluities,  yet  they  make  provisions 
for  the  increase  of  such  roots  whereof  they  make 
bread,  content  with  such  simple  diet,  whereof  health 
is  preserved  and  disease  is  avoided." 

Yes,  there  is  another  side  to  their  nature.  They 
were  bloodthirsty,  as  we  understand  the  term.  The 
Foxes,  whose  history  I  have  gathered,  possessed  all 
the  good  as  well  as  all  the  savage  traits.  If  that 
fact  warranted  the  wholesale  murder  of  the  natives, 
by  the  intruding  settlers,  then  what  shall  we  do  with 
the  three  thousand  men  of  enlightened  Kansas,  who, 
suspecting  a  negro  of  murder,  of  which  he  declared 
himself  innocent,  refused  to  allow  the  law  to  take 
its  course,  took  him  from  the  sheriff's  posse  by 
force,  threw  coal  oil  over  him  and  set  fire  to  it?  I 
curse  these  men  as  brutal.  Compared  with  their 
act,  all  the  tortures  and  murders  charged  to  our 
natives  were  as  acts  of  kindness. 

History  told  in  cold  type  may  be  likened  to  the 
mossy  marble  that  casts  its  shadow  across  a  grass- 
grown  battlefield.  Pen-pictures  may  embellish  the 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  17 

tale,  but  the  struggle,  the  terrors,  the  death-throes, 
the  tortures  of  flame  and  sword,  no  stone,  however 
wrought,  no  print,  even  in  colors  of  blood,  can  tell. 
Greater  though  the  pen,  palsies  the  hand  that  would 
move  it,  and  languishes  the  brain  before  the  task  of 
telling,  in  its  fullness,  what  the  sword  hath  wrought, 
A  nation,  the  strong  hand  of  fate  clutching  its 
throat,  its  warriors  struggling  as  only  the  brave  can, 
struggling  for  its  existence,  struggling  for  the  loved 
ones,  fire  at  its  front,  famine  in  its  ranks  and  in  its 
homeless  families — what  pen  can  tell  its  story?  As 
with  the  lash  of  pestilence,  we  drove  the  natives  to 
their  doom,  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  the  home 
dear  to  them. 

Come  to  our  western  prairies  when  the  sun  has 
ripened  the  year  to  its  fullness,  and  to  the  streams 
along  which  fruits  hang  ready  for  the  lips.  Though 
the  shade-loving  bluebells  have  dropped  their 
petals,  the  goldenrod  has  sought  the  sun,  and  in  the 
morning  the  cheery  notes  of  the  birds  are  music. 
The  mating  time  is  far  past,  and  the  broods  are 
found  in  every  covert.  When  come  the  shades  of 
eve,  the  night-hawk  swoops  down  from  his  high 
flight  with  open  throat  and  tells  bob-white  and 
whip-poor-will  their  time  of  call  has  come.  Stay 
with  me.  Do  not  tire.  There  are  other  groves  and 
streams,  and  other  hearts  than  mine  there  cling;  but 
it  was  here  I  first  saw  light.  'Twas  here  that  my 
heartstrings  were  tuned  to  Nature's  chime.  My 
cradle  rocked  beneath  the  boughs  where  robins  sang. 
In  June  the  locust  blossoms  showered  upon  the  low 
shake-roof  over  my  natal  bed,  and  every  new  year 
bade  me  welcome.  So,  like  the  natives,  a  child  of 


iS  LOST   MARAMECH 

Nature,     I    love    the    prairies,    their    groves     and 
streams. 

Did  not  the  dusky  children  of  the  wilds,  nurtured 
as  close  to  Nature's  bosom  as  I,  love  the  brookside 
shades  and  the  fruits,  sun-kissed  to  ripeness  for 
them?  Were  our  love-sighs  the  first  to  be  echoed 
by  the  dove's  low  call,  and  was  the  plush  of  the  soft 
banks  made  only  for  the  white  maid  and  lover?  The 
heart  of  the  young  roots  deeply  into  the  soil  that 
nourishes  it,  and  there  it  ever  clings.  Did  not  the 
many  generations  that  came  and  went  cling  to  the 
homes  into  which  they  were  cradled?  Is  it  that  we 
only,  driven  by  Fate  that  severs  family  ties  and 
turns  homes  to  ashes,  feel  a  sting?  May  not  those 
wedded  to  this  western  sod  have  shrieked  when 
hearts  were  torn  to  shreds? 

My  story  of  a  nearly  vanished  tribe  is  also  one  of 
devastation,  pursuit,  and  destruction.  I  find  the 
tale  only  in  tatters,  a  bit  here  and  there,  in  musty 
volumes;  follow  me  and  you  shall  soon  know  their 
full  meaning. 

They  tell  us  of  a  battle  fought,  but  say  not  where; 
they  tell  us  of  famine  somewhere  in  this  great  fertile 
valley  of  the  middle  west,  the  garden  spot  of  the 
world,  where  hunger  now  seems  impossible;  but  his 
torians  have  not  hitherto  found  the  place. 

Of  the  defeat  the  victor  wrote:  "Voila  une  nation 
humiltie  de  fa$on  qu'elle  ne  troublera  plus  de  tcrre." 
Ferland  II.,  439.  (Behold  a  nation  humiliated  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  will  no  more  trouble  the 
earth.)  Let  us  consider,  a  moment,  the  people  of 
whom  I  am  writing.  The  environments  of  their 
birthplaces  were  such  as  so-called  civilization  knows 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  19 

nothing  'of;  their  schooling  was  that  of  the  chase 
and  war;  their  inherent  ambitions  were  only  those 
urging  to  greatness  as  warriors.  How  can  we,  of 
this  generation,  judge  them  fairly?  Let  us  not  be 
deceived  by  the  terms  applied  to  these  natives. 
The  beasts  the  explorers  found  along  the  St.  Law 
rence  river  were  wild,  and  the  French  called  them 
sauvage.  The  people  they  found  living  a  life  of  wild 
freedom  they  also  called  sauvage^  although  many 
were  so  mild  in  manners  as  to  put  the  French  to 
shame.  We  have  given  the  French  word  sauvage^ 
that  merely  means  wild,  a  most  savage  interpreta 
tion. 

The  European  missionaries  were  not  in  position 
to  call  these  people  savage,  indiscriminately,  in  the 
present  sense  of  the  term. 


Site  of  the  "Great  Village  of  Mara- 

mech"  and  of  the  destruction 

of  the  larger  part  of  the 

Fox    tribe    in    1730. 

Modeled  in  clay. 


CHAPTER  II 

Call  it  idle  curiosity  that  incites  us  unwrap  the 
winding-sheet  of  the  mummy,  if  you  will;  say,  if  you 
please,  that  it  was  curiosity  merely  that  prompted 
me  to  dig  into  musty  archives  for  information,  writ 
ten  in  a  foreign  language,  with  its  incongruities  of 
two  hundred  years  ago.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is 
hoped  that  some  will  scan  these  pages  with  the 
pleasure  that  the  lover  of  history  experiences. 

Where  lettered  man  has  lived  and  loved,  has 
fought  and  died;  where  romance  and  strife  have 
been  made  indelible — there  is  history.  Where  let 
ters  are  not  known,  tradition  alone  serves  to  per 
petuate  the  current  of  events  of  a  people — but,  alas, 
in  a  manner  so  broken! 

On  the  broad  prairies  of  northern  Illinois  and 
southern  Wisconsin  long  lived  a  people  of  whom 
my  story  shall  tell,  and  of  whom  we  long  have  lived 
in  almost  total  ignorance.  Fortunately  for  the 
lovers  of  historical  pursuits  many  records,  scattered 
though  they  now  are,  were  made  by  the  early 
explorers  of  our  country  and  have  been  preserved, 
In  the  archives  of  France,  from  which  most  of  my 
materials  have  been  dug,  more  may  hereafter  be 
found;  and  it  is  hoped  that,  with  the  aid  of  appro 
priations  by  the  government,  all  scraps  of  early  his 
tory  bearing  upon  our  region  will  be  collected. 
Along  the  hills  and  groves  of  northern  Illinois  lies 
the  main  scene  of  my  story.  The  echoes  of  tradi- 

21 


22  LOST    MARAMECH 

tion  have  died  away  until  only  a  mere  murmur 
remains;  no  recent  writer  before  me  has  seemed  to 
know  what  there  took  place  nor  when. 

The  most  interesting  and  tragic  event  in  the 
Indian  history  of  Illinois  has  thus  remained  to  the 
present  time  in  the  obscurity  of  scattered  annals. 
These  I  have  gathered,  and  the  story  is,  for  the  first 
time,  made  to  some  extent  complete. 

The  discovery  of  a  few  potsherds  and  heaps  of  earth, 
along  the  beautiful  Fox  river  (Riviere  du  Rocher 
of  the  early  French),  in  Kendall  county,  Illinois,  near 
the  present  busy  little  city  of  Piano,  spurred  me  into 
investigations  that  have  extended  over  a  quarter  of 
a  century;  and  my  researches  in  the  archives  of 
France,  with  those  of  others,  have  led  to  the  discov 
ery  of  early  historical  facts  of  great  interest. 

What  and  where  was  Maramech?  What  tribe  of 
natives  was  it  that  lived  by  the  chase  on  the  five 
prairies  that  neighbor  near  the  mouth  of  Big  Rock 
creek,  and  planted  its  corn  in  the  rich  valley?  Who 
was  it  that  gathered  the  fruits  and  nuts  in  the  forest 
that  borders  this  beautiful  creek  and  the  river  that, 
in  turn,  carries  the  creek's  cool  contribution  to  the 
Father  of  Waters?  Who  lived  here  in  the  freedom 
we  so  much  enjoy  when  we  throw  off  the  harness  of 
restraint  and  seek  the  shades  of  the  great  trees  at 
Sylvan  Spring  and  pitch  our  tents  for  a  season  of 
absolute  rest?  Follow  my  story,  and  you  shall 
learn. 

Early  French  maps  show  that  no  place  in  the 
west  was  then  better  known  than  the  northern  part 
of  Illinois.  When  visited  by  Nicholas  Perrot  and 
the  French  traders,  so  rich  was  it  in  game  that  it 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  23 

formed    the    hunting-ground    of    many   Algonquin 
tribes;    indeed,  it  supplied  the  needs  of  the  aborig- 


ines  to  such  an  extent  that  battles  were  fought  for 
its  possession.     The  Iroquois  of  the  east,  sworn  ene- 


24  LOST   MARAMECH 

mies  of  all  the  Algonquin  tribes,  sought  to  rob  them 
of  their  homes,  but  succeeded  in  part  only,  leaving 
the  deed  to  be  finished  by  so-called  civilized  man, 
who  later  lusted  after  the  bounties  Nature  had  here 
showered  down. 

Of  La  Salle's  first  explorations  we  know  but  little, 
for  they  were  carried  on  in  a  manner  so  quiet  that 
only  the  governor  of  New  France  was  aware  of  his 
whereabouts  much  of  the  time  during  the  years  pre 
ceding  the  grant,  to  him,  along  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  later  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois.  He  was  a 
"Coureur  du  bois"  of  the  most  energetic  type;  he 
knew  too  well  the  value  of  the  Mississippi  valley  to 
France  to  make  known  to  the  world  his  belief,  or 
the  evidences  thereof,  that  it  could  be  better  reached 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  than  by  way  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  with  its  many  rapids  and  with  that  great 
barrier  the  falls  of  Niagara.  Of  all  this  he  dared 
not  speak,  except  in  a  whisper,  to  the  governor. 
This  knowledge,  and  the  immeasurable  confidence 
on  the  part  of  the  governor,  resulted  in  the  permits 
that  enabled  La  Salle  to  complete  his  discoveries. 

The  silence  of  the  great  explorer  was  the  cause  of 
the  break  in  the  story  of  his  life  which  enabled  the 
Jesuits  (who  wished  to  appropriate  all  the  honors, 
and  the  commercial  opportunities  as  well),  to  claim 
that  Frontenac  and  the  Abbe  de  Galinee  had  drawn 
upon  their  imaginations  in  making  the  records  they 
left  regarding  La  Salle's  explorations,  in  1669,  on 
the  Ohio  and  other  western  rivers.  (Margry  I.,  112.) 

He  again  visited  the  region  in  1680,  descended 
the  Illinois  river  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  He  returned  and  spent  part  of  the  year 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  25 

1683  a°d  established  the  Colonie  du  Str.  De  La  Salle, 
within  what  is  now  La  Salle,  Will,  Kendall,  and 
Cook  counties,  Illinois,  and  left  his  faithful  lieu 
tenant,  Henri  de  Tonty,  in  charge  of  the  fort  estab 
lished  by  him  on  what  is  now  tknown  as  Starved 
Rock,  in  La  Salle  county.  He  then  passed  on  to 
Canada  and  there  gave  to  Franquelin,  the  Official 
Cartographer  of  Canada,  the  information  necessary 
to  enable  him  to  draw  his  map  of  1684.  On  the  lat 
ter  the  Illinois  river,  the  Des  Plaines,  Kankakee, 
Fox  river,  and  others  are  shown,  but  all  bear  their 
aboriginal  names. 

At  the  head  of  the  last-mentioned  river  is  a  small 
body  of  water  that  now  forms  a  summer  resort  much 


JOLIET'S  MAP. 


sought  by  the  weary— Pistakee  lake,  until  recently 
pronounced  Pes-ta-koo-ee.  Whence  that  name? 
The  little  lake  is  shown  on  only  one  of  the  old  maps, 
but  the  river  flowing  from  it  is  on  other  maps  laid 


26  LOST   MARAMECH 

down  and  named  "Pestekuoy."  On  Lanman's  map, 
in  his  history  of  Michigan,  the  river,  of  which  the  lake 
is,  in  fact,  but  an  enlargement,  bears  the  same  name. 
When  Joliet,  accompanied  by  the  modest  Mar- 
quette,*  in  his  efforts  to  carry  out  the  instructions 
of  the  governor  of  Canada,  to  him,  to  find  the  sea 
of  the  west,  floated  down  the  Wisconsin  and  Missis 
sippi  rivers,  and,  returning,  stemmed  the  current  of 
the  Illinois  river  to  the  portage  at  "Chicagou,"  he 
sought  to  gather  such  information  as,  added  to  that 
acquired  by  La  Salle  and  other  earlier  explorers  and 
traders,  would  be  beneficial  to  his  king  and  fellow 
countrymen. 

We  have  his  maps  and  also  Marquette's.  On  a 
map,  said  to  have  been  founded  on  Marquette's  pub 
lished  in  France  in  1681,  by  Thevenot,  a  little  north 
of  the  Illinois  river,  is  drawn  the  picture  of  a 
buffalo,  which,  in  the  various  Algonquin  languages, 
bore  the  name  given  to  the  river  of  which  I  shall 
often  speak,  and  to  the  lake  above  referred  to  that 
forms  one  of  its  enlargements  as  well  as  one  of  its 

*Marquette,  in  his  journal,  tells  us  all  about  Joliet,  appointed 
by  the  governor  of  New  France  to  make  the  exploration,  and 
the  opportunity  offered  him  to  accompany  the  expedition.  Yet 
so  great  was  the  desire  of  John  G.  Shea  that  the  Catholics  be 
given  the  credit  that,  in  his  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions, 
he  devotes  pages  to  the  voyage,  but  fails  to  even  mention 
Joliet' s  name.  Although  there  were  other  Frenchmen  in  the 
party  and  some  Indian  guides,  the  author  says:  "Long  sailed 
he  on,  with  no  witness  to  his  way  but  the  birds  and  beasts  of 
the  plains."  The  claims  later  made  for  Maiquette  by  the 
Jesuits  were  not  warranted  by  anything  left  in  writing,  or 
otherwise,  by  their  hero.  He  admitted  Joliet  was  the  head 
and  front  of  the  exploration. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


27 


sources.  The  maker  of  Thevenot's  map  spelled  the 
name  of  the  animal  Pichikib  (Peeshikioo)*  In  the 
Jesuit  Relations 
the  name  of  the 
animal  is  spelled 
Pisikiou.  Some 
cart  ographers 
spelled  it,  as  ap- 
plied  to  the 
river,  Pestricoui^ 
and  Tony  spelled 
it  Pestegonky\ 
each  writer  made 
his  best  effort  to 
represent  the  un 
familiar  sounds 
that  formed  the 
word,  by  the  use 
of  the  conven 
tional  symbols 
of  the  sounds  in 
his  mother 

tongue,  so  far  as  his  ear,  dull  to  the  language  new 
to  him,  enabled  him  to  do. 

In  Franquelin's  map  of  1684,  on  tne  west  bank  of 
the  river  Pestekuoy,  presumably  a  little  above  the 
confluence  of  Big  Rock  creek  (which,  however,  is 
not  on  the  ancient  maps),  is  placed  the  town  of 
Maramech.  In  his  later  map  the  final  two  letters  are 

*In  Thevenot's  Collection  of  Voyages,  we  find  on  page  12 : 
"Nous  appe lions  les  Pisikious  Bosuf  Sauvages,"  and  the 
author  goes  on  to  say  that  they  do  so  because  these  animals 
(the  buffalo)  are  very  similar  to  domestic  cattle. 


is       > 


28 


LOST   MARAMECH 


omitted.  On  an  early  map,  corrected  by  Tillamen 
(Paris,  1688),  it  is  spelled  Maramea.  In  Popples' 
map,  of  later  date,  it  is  Maraux,  as  also  in  an 


N\ 


FRANQUELIN'S,  1688,  SHOWING  MARAMECH  DIFFERENTLY 
SPELLED.  FROM  WINSOR'S  NARRATIVE  AND  CRITICAL  HIS 
TORY. 

unnamed   and  undated   "official"    French    map  of 
1718,  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

It  was  ever  the  custom,  among  savage  tribes,  to 
give  descriptive  names  to  places  and  things.  A 
stream  that  was  characterized  by  an  abundance  of 


Maramech  Hill,   from  the  south. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  29 

sturgeon  was  given  the  name  of  that  fish,  hence 
Merrimac  was  applied  to  the  river  of  New  England, 
and  Marame  to  the  Kalamazoo  river  of  Michigan. 
A  river  in  Missouri  also  bears  the  name.  The  word 
is  seldom  found  spelled  twice  alike  by  old  writers, 
but  it  meant  the  spiny  sturgeon. 

Come  with  me  to  the  site  of  ancient  Maramech, 
the  "great  village"  of  the  Miamis.  The  Fox  river, 
as  we  now  know  it,  always  beautiful,  in  the  autumn 
months  has  special  charms.  Great  maple  and  wal 
nut  trees  overhang  its  banks;  plums,  sweeter  than 
any  cultivated  orchard  ever  produced,  are  found 
wild;  pawpaws  in  September  offer  their  riches,  and 
nuts  are  the  harvest  of  the  squirrels.  From  the  time 


Nrfimaea  Illinois 


FRAGMENT  OF  POPPLES'  MAP.     SHOWING  THE  HILLS  OF 
MARAMECH. 


of  the  May  apple  and  strawberry,  in  early  summer, 
until  the  last  nut  has  fallen,  everything  necessary  to 
sustain  life  can  be  found  growing  spontaneously. 

Where  once  the  natives  raised  their  corn  we  now 
see  great  fields  planted  with  but  little  greater  regu 
larity  by  the  machine  of  to-day;  the  plow-cultivated 


30  LOST   MARAMECH 

rows  show  but  little  improvement  over  the  aborig 
inal  method  of  placing  the  hills  in  rows,  a  long  step 


apart,   and   ridging  them.     The  way  we  plant  and 
"tend"  was  taught  us  by  the  people  who  left  the 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  31 

golden  legacy.  Upon  the  hillsides  that  face  the 
sun,  the  grapes  of  the  white  man  grow  no  more 
luxuriantly  than  those  whose  clambering  vines  erst 
while  reached  the  very  treetops.  The  wild  grape 
was,  to  those  early  people,  as  great  a  luxury  as  it 


TILLMAN  (TILLEMON)  1688 


now  is  to  the  boys  who  gather  from  the  few  remain 
ing  vines  the  scattered  bunches,  sweetened  by  the 
early  frosts.  On  these  sunny  hillsides,  I  am  led  to 
believe,  they  cultivated  the  large  grape  indigenous 
to  our  southern  climates;  early  explorers  speak  of  a 


32  LOST    MARAMECH 

grape,  the  principal  characteristic  of  which  was  its 
great  size.  With  the  passing  into  du^  of  the  foster 
ing  hand,  this  grape  also  passed  away,  smitten  by 
the  rigors  of  our  climate. 

This  river,  the  river  of  the  buffalo,  always  warm, 
born  of  the  lakes  that  now  form  the  summer  resorts, 
tempts  the  bather  precisely  as  it  did  the  naked  sav 
age  whose  morning  bath  was  taken  in  its  pools. 


FRAGMENT  OF  CORONELLI'S  MAP  OF  1693. 

Picnic  parties  in  gay  attire  are  now  rowed  among 
the  islands  and  along  the  shore,  where,  at  the  time 
my  story  begins,  the  canoe,  hewn  from  a  single  log, 
was  moved  by  arms  as  strong  as  those  of  modern 
athletes.  In  the  beautiful  river  of  the  buffalo  the 
bass,  the  pike,  and  other  game  fish  may  yet  be 
found.  The  modern  angler  with  rod  and  reel,  his 
most  precious  lines  and  flies,  makes  no  greater  catch 
than  did  the  man  who,  with  torch  at  the  bow,  stand 
ing  astride  of  his  canoe,  threw  his  spear  with  uner- 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


33 


ring  aim  at  the  darting  pickerel.  Where  now  the 
sportsman,  with  dog  and  modern  arms,  satisfies  his 
savage  thirst  to*  blood,  there  the  native,  with  bow 
and  arrow,  killed  only  to  sustain  life.  The  former 
kills  for  the  love  of  it;  and  the  latter,  like  him  to 
whom  the  sportsman  applies  the  epithet  "pot 
hunter,"  took  the  life  of  beasts  and  of  the  innocent 
feathered  tribe  only  to  sustain  himself. 


«fc-  v     ITTtwSJ*' 

FRAGMENT  OF  GIBSON'S  MAP,  1763. 


Beautiful  river  of  the  buffalo!  River  of  the  Rock! 
Fox  river!  Thy  rounded  bluffs,  thy  bordering 
woods,  thy  long  stretches  of  bottom  land,  where  the 
natives  raised  their  corn,  now  blooming  the  summer 
long  with  Nature's  best  efforts,  and  thy  graceful 
elms,  where  still  the  robin  wakes  the  morn  with 


34  LOST   MARAMECH 

song,  I  love  thee  yet  as  when,  in  my  early  days,  I 
read  thee  as  a  poem! 

Beautiful  river!  Adorned  by  the  rocky  mounds 
that  gave  thee  thy  second  name  in  written  history, 
Riviere  du  Rocher,  thy  charms  call  the  people  to  the 
roomy  "old  mill,"  gray  with  age!  There  gather  the 
young  for  frolic,  the  summer  long! 

River  of  the  Rock!  How  often  midst  the  sum 
mer's  heat  have  I  cooled  my  brow  along  thy  shore, 
sitting  beneath  the  shade  trees  that  found  scanty 
footing,  and  how  often  have  I  plunged  from  thy  banks ! 

Beautiful  valley!  Often  I  have  scanned  thy  face, 
sitting  on  those  mounds  that  rise  six  times  my  height 
above  the  river,  and  contemplated  what  the  years 
might  tell  of  all  that  passed.  Here  lovers  sat  and 
told  the  old,  old  story.  No  well-kept  lawn  was 
ever  more  attractive  than  thy  sod.  Up  the  stream, 
along  the  shaded  shore,  once  stretched  the  cabins 
of  the  denizens  of  Maramech.  The  hearth-stones 
that  were  within  those  cabins  sometimes  are  laid 
bare  by  the  melting  snows  of  spring,  which  cause 
the  stream  to  overflow  its  banks.  Behind  these 
dwellings  were  the  fields,  where  melons  grew,  and 
from  which  came  the  roasting-ears  that  marked  the 
time  of  the  corn  feast. 

From  this  rock,  stretching  along  the  river  bank,  to 
and  on  along  the  creek  that  adds  its  ever-cooling 
flood  to  the  warmer  waters  of  the  river,  extended  the 
fields  and  homes.  Only  primitive  art  was  displayed 
in  the  building  of  these  shelters,  but  they  were 
warm.  Constructed  of  strong  frames  and  covered 
with  bark  of  the  elm,  or  matting  made  of  rushes, 
with  roofs  to  match,  they  were  impervious  to  wind 


Specimens  of  the  Ceramic  Art,  from  the  site  of  Maramech. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  35 

and  rain.  In  covered  places,  of  which  no  mark  is 
left,  the  corn  was  stored  for  winter's  use,  and  upon 
scaffolds  in  the  cabins,  beans,  dried  pumpkins  and 
squashes  were  kept  for  time  of  need. 

River  of  the  Rock!  Well  it  is  that  thy  two  tribu 
taries,  which  unite  and  flow  into  thy  channel,  are 
still  known  by  thy  earlier  name,  now  so  nearly  for 
gotten;  although  the  names  of  thy  little  tributaries 
linger,  tradition  does  not  tell  us  why  so  christened. 
Big  Rock  Creek  I  Thy  waters,  spring  born,  so  cool  in 
summer,  yet  warm  enough  to  be  proof  against  the  win 
ter's  cold,  are  clear  as  those  of  the  mountain  stream. 
To  all,  except  the  geologist,  it  seems  strange  that  thy 
waters  are  always  bright,  while  neighboring  streams 
are  mere  drains  for  the  fields  on  the  far-reaching 
prairies.  The  river  that  receives  thy  waters,  with 
its  lovely  banks  and  groves,  and  the  five  prairies 
that  almost  meet,  is  only  exceeded  in  its  beauty  by 
thy  shades,  where  the  bluebells  of  spring,  delicate 
and  tender  as  the  eyes  of  beauty,  have  sought  thy 
hillsides,  where  the  violets,  sweet  as  the  wild  rose  of 
the  prairies  so  near,  lend  their  charms.  Along  thy 
banks  were  many  of  the  long-vanished  homes  of 
Maramech.  The  line  of  cabins  reached  where  stands 
the  old  mill  whose  gable  windows  blink  to  the  mid 
day  sun,  and,  onward  still,  beyond  where  stood  the 
older  mill  (now  but  a  memory)  that  yielded  its  grists 
to  the  early  settlers. 

Beautiful  creek!  Long  before  the  savage  instincts 
of  the  boy  had  been  smothered,  I  learned  to  love 
thee.  In  thy  pools  the  pickerel  and  bass,  choosing 
thy  cool  waters,  came  from  the  warmer  river  and 
were  tempted  by  my  bait. 


36  LOST   MARAMECH 

Burnt  stones  and  bones,  washed  from  the  banks, 
show  that  generations  of  fishermen  had  already 
come  and  gone. 

The  story  of  the  Little  Creek  of  the  Rock  is  short. 
Along  the  bluffs  clay,  from  which  the  potters  of 
Maramech  formed  their  wares,  is  found.  This  little 
stream  that,  within  my  memory,  swept  the  southern 
foot  of  Maramech  hill,  for  a  time  was  diverted  by 
the  hand  of  man  to  turn  his  wheels.  Obedient  only 
for  a  while  it  was;  then,  like  the  horse  long  re 
strained,  taking  the  bit  in  its  teeth  and  running  at 
will,  it  burst  its  bounds  and  sought  again  the  old 
channel.  But  during  the  years  of  its  restraint,  the 
rainfalls  upon  the  now  bare  summit  of  Maramech 
hill  had  torn  away  the  ancient  passage  from  fort  to 
creek,  of  which  I  shall  tell,  thrown  a  gravel-spit 
across  the  old  channel  and  forced  this  stream  to  a 
third  course.  The  surrounding  swamp  that  faintly 
marks  the  unhealed  scar  of  the  little  stream  of  geo 
logical  times,  finds,  in  part,  drainage  into  Big  Rock 
creek,  and  in  part  an  outlet  into  the  lesser  stream 
Lately  the  swamp  has  been  cut  by  another  gravel- 
spit,  so  that,  at  all  times,  one  may  ignore  the  new- 
cut  road  at  the  eastern  side  and  pass  to  the  hill  dry- 
shod. 

By  common  consent,  since  my  studies  resulted  in 
the  identification  of  the  place,  a  name  has  been 
given  this  romantic  spot.  The  "Great  Village  of 
Maramech"  having  been  near  the  hill,  why  not,  it 
was  thought,  call  the  latter  by  that  name?  May  it 
not  have  been  so  in  the  language  now  little  spoken?* 

*At  a  time  not  very  remote,  perhaps  not  more  than  ten 
thousand  years  ago,  the  smaller  creek  ran  to  the  west  of  this 


Maramech  Hill.     The  "gentle  slope,  rising  to  the  west  and  northwest  from  a 

little  river." 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  37 

Before  the  Galena  limestone,  on  which  the  great 
depth  of  gravel  forming  the  hill  rests,  was  swept 
bare  by  glacial  action,  many  forms  of  animal  life 
existed,  differing  little  from  those  we  know.  The 
great  ice-cap  crept  from  the  north,  and  by  its  slow  but 
mighty  forces  crushed  the  rocks  whose  debris  forms 
these  gravel-beds.  Its  resistless  share  turned  under 
all  forms  of  life;  in  the  gravel  of  the  hill,  to  the  south, 
a  considerable  depth  below  the  surface,  a  tooth 
of  the  great  American  elephant  was  recently  found. 
The  gravel-beds  being  so  dry,  this  pre-glacial  relic 
shows  for  itself  that  it  had  been  well  housed. 

Before  this  hill  was  laid,  these  monsters  browsed 
in  the  forests  that  ultimately  fell  with  them.  Before 
the  river  had  found  its  way,  these  gravels  had  been 
sifted  and  shifted  and  laid  in  beds  as  clean  as  the 
sands  of  the  seashore.  The  region  was  a  lake  during 
a  later  time,  because  a  barrier  of  marble  whiteness, 
the  St.  Peter  Sandstone,  rose  high  a  few  miles  south 
ward.  The  softer  strata,  the  shales  of  the  Cincin 
nati  Group  of  the  Lower  Silurian  period,  for  a 
distance  of  three  miles  to  the  north,  had  been 
gouged  away  and  the  basin  thus  formed  later  became 
filled  with  the  gravels  and  sifted  sands.  The  cool 

island-like  hill.  What  is  now  so  isolated  from  the  neighboring 
bluffs  was  then  a  peninsula,  long,  narrow,  and  high.  It  was  a 
long  turn  the  little  creek  then  made  to  join  its  larger  brother ; 
the  high  peninsula  for  a  half  mile  separated  them.  For  cen 
turies  the  little  stream  dug  at  the  barrier.  Gently  it  carved 
when  the  bordering  trees  and  shrubs  were  in  leaf  and  bloom ; 
but  when  the  melting  snows  of  spring  formed  floods  it  tore  at 
the  walls  of  drift-gravels  with  greater  might  until  its  task  was 
done  and  the  high  neck  of  land  could  no  more  obstruct  its  way. 
Where  so  long  ran  the  little  stream  is  now  the  swamp. 


38  LOST   MARAMECH 

waters  of  the  melting  ice  of  the  Glacial  Epoch  per 
mitted  no  abundant  life  in  this  lake;  a  few  beds  of 
shell-marl  show  on  the  hillsides.  As  the  waters  of 
the  ice-fields  ran  away,  the  barrier  of  white  sand 
stone  became  worn  low,  and  the  new-born  river 
carved  out  its  valley.  Then  began  the  development 
of  life  that  culminated  in  the  beauties  we  now  see. 
As  if  they  had  turned  the  edge  of  the  great  plow 
share,  the  mounds  of  rock,  almost  an  old  French 
land  league  southward  from  the  hill,  stand  well 
above  the  surface  of  the  river  valley.  One  of  them 
drops  its  sides,  a  large  part  of  its  more  than  thirty- 
five  feet,  almost  directly  into  the  river.  Beside  this, 
a  twin  rock  rises  with  rounded  sides  and  summit. 
The  river,  diligent  and  effective  as  the  tooth  of 
time,  has  cut  its  way  through  these  hard  strata. 
Before  the  white  man's  destructive  hand  had 
wrought  havoc  by  taking  building  material  for  a 
dam  from  the  cliff  on  the  eastern  shore,  a  spring 
flowed  from  it  through  a  crevice  which,  for  a  dis 
tance,  it  had  eroded  wide  and  high.  To  this  roomy 
part,  extending  fifty  feet  into  the  rocky  ledge,  early 
settlers  gave  the  name  Black  Hawk's  Cave.  Why 
so  called  we  do  not  know,  but  we  do  know  that  the 
early  settlers  held  that  great  warrior  in  fear,  and  that 
Black  Hawk,  as  we  shall  see,  often  trod  the  trail 
passing  the  site  of  then  ancient  Maramech,  and 
sometimes  camped  a  little  less  than  a  short  French 
league  from  the  cave  that  continued  to  exist  but 
little  longer  than  he. 

The  stone  in  the  massive  walls  of  the  old  mill  and 
its  dam  were  quarried  there,  and  from  this  place  also 
has  been  taken,  for  two  generations,  the  necessary 


One  of  the  twin  Rocks,  each  over  an  acre  in  extent,  that  gave  the  beautiful  river  its 
second  name  in  history,  Riviere  du  Rocher. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  39 

material  for  lime  and  other  building  purposes  of  the 
surrounding  country  and  the  busy  little  city  near 
by;  enough  is  left  for  several  cities  by  no  means 
small.  Attractive,  because  of  the  beauties  of  its 
surroundings  and  man's  love  of  romance,  this  mill 
has  been  converted  into  a  summer  resort;  and  here 
gather,  for  rest  or  for  frolic,  the  old  and  the  young 
from  the  stifling  cities.  It  is  but  an  old  story,  for 
here  the  sun-painted  children  of  many  generations 
played,  and  lovers  sat  and  sighed  beneath  the  trees 
upon  the  mound. 

So  prominent  are  these  rocks,  each  more  than  an 
acre  in  extent,  that  the  beautiful  Pestekouy  lost  its 
name  to  be  called  Riviere  du  Rocher.*  From  Mara- 
mech  hill  the  rock  is  hidden  by  a  point  of  bluff,  but 
we  can  look  across  the  river,  up  the  stream  to  the 
east,  or  down  it  some  distance  to  the  south.  The 
view,  in  the  anniversary  month  of  the  great  slaugh 
ter,  becomes  lost  in  either  direction  in  the  autumn 
haze;  a  rapid  here  and  there,  not  too  strong  for  a 
light  canoe  to  stem,  is  all  that  breaks  the  surface  of 
the  waters  that  reflect  the  turning  leaves  of  the 
maples  on  either  bank. 

Toward   the   rising   sun  went,  and   from    the   east 

*The  Fox  River  enters  the  Illinois  nine  full  miles  above 
"The  Rock"  of  La  Salle's  old  fort.  I  have  been  informed  by 
French  scholars  in  Paris  that  the  name  Rivtire  du  Rocher 
could  not  have  been  given  because  of  its  nearness  to  the  rock 
upon  which  La  Salle's  lieutenant,  Tonty,  erected  his  defenses. 
The  name,  they  told  me,  bears  evidence  that  it  was  given 
because  of  some  characteristic  feature  along  it.  After  the  pass 
ing  away  of  the  buffalo,  from  which  the  river  took  its  first 
known  name,  no  more  noticeable  feature  characterized  it  than 
the  rounded  rocks  at  Maramech. 


40 


LOST   MARAMECH 


came  hunting  parties,  parties  bent  on  war  and,  from 
time  to  time,  messengers  bearing  the  pipe  of  peace. 
Over  the  great  trail,  mapped  in  by  Thevenot  in 
1681,  and  last  traveled  by  the  tribe  by  whose  name 
it  was  known  when  came  the  white  man,  the  Sauk 
Trail,  labored  the  beasts  of  burden,  urged  on  by 


les  Ma.scouten/s. 
u  Ni.ti.on.  du.  Feu. 


ort  Creuecoeur .  *   ,  . 
te  frocher  &  «.  « j 


imitoui.oa  PeorraL 

FRAGMENT  OF  HENNEPIN'S  MAP,  1683.     SHOWING  THE 
GREAT  TRAIL. 

dusky  drivers.  They  came  to  the  trading  stations. 
Such  means  of  transportation  we  now  know  little  of 
but  in  story.  Two  long  poles,  connected  by  thongs 
to  a  rude  saddle  upon  horses,  their  butt  ends  reaching 
backward  to  the  ground,  and  a  rude  rawhide  basket 
between,  formed  the  only  conveyance.  Packed 
with  the  decrepit  and  the  children  or  with  furs,  or 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  41 

both,  these  vehicles  stirred  the  soil  into  dust  which 
the  winds  blew  away.  The  sodless  trails  were  worn 
deeper  as  years  passed  until  abandoned  by  the 
natives  and  those  who  sought  their  trade.  Later 
came  the  whites,  and  where  ran  the  trails  there  fol 
lowed  the  ox-teams  of  the  first  settlers  who,  turning 


THE  TRAIL,  AS  SHOWN  BY  DE  LISLE,  1703. 

to  the  roadside  wherever  a  location  of  particular 
charm  was  reached,  erected  cabins  and  made  claims, 
almost  always  fronting  on  the  trail.  Wherever  the 
boundary  lines  of  the  early  farms  do  not  correspond 
with  the  points  of  the  compass  followed  by  later  sur 
veys,  the  course  of  the  trail  may  now  be  discovered. 


42  LOST   MARAMECH 

The  first  stage  roads  followed  the  old  trails,  and 
some  of  the  public  roads  that  serve  the  present 
generation  were  traveled  before  America  was  discov 
ered  by  Europeans.  Where  were  fording  places  in 
the  rivers,  there  centered  the  many  paths,  worn 
deeply  by  the  hoofs  of  deer  and  buffalo,  so  often 
mentioned  by  the  many  explorers. 

The  great  east-and-west  trail  crossed  the  Peste- 
kouy  at  Maramech,  while  the  village  existed,  and 
both  before  and  since;  and  there  came  also  the  Kish- 
waukee  Trail,  from  the  swamps  of  the  northwest, 
over  which  were  brought  the  furs  most  sought  by  the 
traders.  Although  I  have  found  but  little  authority, 
other  than  the  river  courses,  I  believe  that  not  all  of 
the  French  goods  were  brought  up  the  stream  to 
Maramech  and  the  half  dozen  other  towns  along  the 
river  Pestekouy.  Many  were  brought  up  from  Fort 
St.  Louis,  that,  from  its  establishment  by  La  Salle 
to  about  1700,  was  an  entrepot;  but  much  was  car 
ried  from  the  lake  near  where  now  is  Racine,  Wis., 
to  the  little  lakes  where  forms  the  stream. 

In  St.  Cosme's  account  of  his  voyage  down  the 
Mississippi  river,  he  speaks  of  the  portage  between 
the  head  of  Root  river,  that  adds  its  mite  to  Lake 
Michigan  at  Racine,  Wis.,  and  the  head  of  the  Fox 
river  of  Illinois,  and  of  the  route  he  would  have 
taken  to  reach  the  Mississippi  but  for  the  low  water 
in  the  rivers  at  that  season  of  the  year.  This  route, 
that  I  have  before  spoken  of  as  the  one  taken  by  the 
French  in  bringing  goods  to  Maramech,  he  calls  the 
river  Pistrui,  and  tells  us  that  it  enters  the  Illinois 
about  twenty-five  or  thirty  leagues  from  Chikagu. 
At  Maramech  many  trails  met.  Over  them  came 


The  Kishwaukee  trail,  worn  deep  by  heavy  feet,  and  feet  so  light,  still  scars 
the  Hill.     (Photo  by  the  Author. ) 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  43 

visiting  tribes  and  roving  bands  of  hunters.  Along 
the  larger  creek,  where  now  stands  the  old  mill  built 
of  wood,  gray  in  its  decay  as  the  miller  who  catered 
for  years  to  the  needs  of  the  hungry  settlers,  was  an 
extension  of  the  great  village  of  Maramech. 

The  hill,  so  fatal  to  the  Foxes  a  generation  after 
it  was  deserted  by  the  Miamis,  rose  between  the  two 
parts  of  the  town,  and  hugged  the  creek  so  closely 
that  the  way  from  one  to  the  other  could  only  be 
made  by  passing  over  its  narrow  summit  where  it 
droops  to  little  more  than  half  the  height  of  the 
peak  so  near,  which  peak,  in  times  of  danger,  served 
the  purpose  of  a  lookout.  Deeply  worn  are  still  the 
paths  that  formed  the  terminus  of  the  Kishwaukee 
Trail — doubly  worn  by  denizens  of  the  divided  vil 
lage  of  Maramech. 

Leave  the  modern  road  near  the  mill,  turn  to 
the  right  into  the  pasture  and  direct  your  steps  to 
the  lowest  place  in  sight;  halt  when  half  way  up  the 
path,  and  where  you  stand  moccasined  feet  trod 
for  generations.  So  deeply  worn  the  trail,  a  hun 
dred  years  of  wash  of  storm  and  heaving  frost  have 
not  defaced  it.  The  few  animals  pastured  there 
keep  the  path  fresh.  How  many  feet,  some  weary 
and  others  fleet,  have  passed  where  now  you  stand, 
and  rested  beneath  the  trees  that  shield  you  from 
the  summer's  sun! 

With  the  long-lapsed  years  in  mind  we  seem  to 
see  canoes  passing  up  the  river  laden  with  furs,  and 
coming  down  with  trinkets  that  have  been  received 
in  exchange  for  the  hunters'  harvests.  From  where 
the  little  village  of  Waukegan  dots  the  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  headwaters  of  this  river,  a 


44 


LOST   MARAMECH 


m&rut 
UT.MejR 


trail  was  long  in  use  by  the  hunters  and  traders  who 
gathered  the  furs  of  beaver  and  the  skins  of  the 
deer  and  buffalo. 

On  an  old  French  map,  the  author  of  which  is  not 
given,  is  found  laid  down  the  river.  At  a  point 
nearly  due  west  from  where  Chicago  is  situated  on 
Lake  Michigan,  is  placed  Saut,  the  French  word  for 
rapid.  This  leads  one  to  believe  that  that  rapid 

was  at  the  rocky 
channel  where,  at 
and  above  the 
mounds  that  gave 
the  river  its  sec 
ond  name  in  his 
tory,  a  dam  has 
been  built.  Pinart, 
who  copied  the 
map,  in  1893, 
from  the  original 
in  the  Depot  de 
la  Marine,  Paris, 
says  that,  al 
though  no  date 
is  given,  it  does 
not  appear  that  this  map  was  drawn  later  than  1680. 
In  the  Bibliotheque  du  Depot  de  la  Marine,  at 
Paris,  is  the  accompanying  dateless,  nameless  map 
that  much  interests  the  seeker  after  certain  histor 
ical  knowledge.  Parkman  credits  it  to  the  Jesuits. 
In  this  no  doubt  he  is  partly  right,  for  on  it  crosses 
show  the  location  of  many  of  the  early  missions 
founded  by  that  order.  Its  author  is  unknown,  but 
I  believe  it  to  have  been  drawn  from  knowledge 


FRAGMENT  OF  DATE 
LESS  OLD  FRENCH 
MAP. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  45 

gained  from  Nicolet,  Raddison,  Grosseilliers,  Per- 
rot,  and  Allouez.  Parkman  believes  that  it  was 
made  subsequent  to  Joliet's  voyage,  because  the 
great  river  is  laid  down  as  "Colbert,"  the  name 
given  it,  as  claimed,  by  Joliet.  Of  a  score  of  early 
maps  in  my  possession,  on  only  three  is  Colbert 
given.  Joliet  gives  it  "Baude"  on  one  of  his,  and 
"River  that  discharges  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico," 
on  two  others.  Some  of  the  knowledge  upon  which 
this  anonymous  map  was  founded  was  gained  as  early 
as  1640,  for  the  place  of  death  of  Father  Mey- 
nard  is  shown.  The  Kankakee,  traversed  by  La 
Salle  in  1679,  is  not  laid  down.  The  map  may  be 
as  early  as  1673,  but  the  Chicago  portage  is  prop 
erly  shown,  as  it  is  on  Joliet's  and  Marquette's 
maps.  That  it  shows  the  Mississippi  river  lower 
than  the  Arkansas  river  does  not  prove  that  it  was 
drawn  later  than  the  true  map  of  Marquette,  for  he 
who  drew  it  may  have  obtained  his  information 
from  the  same  source  as  did  Joliet  and  Marquette, 
as  we  find  in  the  latter's  journal,  in  which  we  read 
as  follows:  "We  gathered  all  the  knowledge  that 
we  were  able  from  savages  who  had  frequented  the 
places,  and  even  traced,  from  their  reports,  a  map  of 
all  the  new  country;  we  laid  down  the  rivers  we  should 
navigate,  the  names  of  the  people  and  the  places  we 
should  pass,  the  course  of  the  Great  River  and  the 
points  of  the  compass  [direction]  we  should  take." 
Many  towns  are  laid  down  by  Marquette  that  he 
never  saw.  The  map  he  drew  before  starting  on 
the  voyage  may  have  been  the  very  one  left  us. 
The  information  given  him  by  the  natives  was  acces 
sible  for  many  years  before  1673. 


46 


LOST    MARAMECH 


The  fact  that  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  (merely 
written  Saut)  are  shown  on  the  map  under  consider 
ation  does  not  prove  that  the  map  was  made  later 
than  the  expedition  of  Michael  Acou,"the  trader, 
and  Hennepin,  the  priest,  who  were  sent  up  the  Mis 
sissippi  river  by  La  Salle,  because  traders  had  been 
there  before. 

Natives  had    also    brought   details    that   enabled 


sat. 


FRAGMENT  OF  JOHN  ANDREW'S  MAP  OF  1782,  ONE  OF  THE  FIRST 
TO  SHOW  Fox  RIVER  AND  GIVE  ITS  PRESENT  NAME. 

cartographers  to  lay  down  rivers  far  beyond  any 
point  where  white  men  had  been.  I  credit  the  first 
knowledge  we  get  of  the  Pestekuoy  River  (the  Fox 
river  of  Illinois)  to  Allouez,  and  believe  him  to 
have  also  given  those  who  drew  some  of  the  other 
maps,  the  knowledge  which  enabled  them  to  lay 
down  the  beautiful  river  which  courses  the  region  so 
abundant  in  the  gifts  of  Nature.  The  lake  at  its 
head,  the  saut^  rapid,  (quite  likely  that  where  the 
ruined  dam  now  frets  the  waters  and  the  old  stone 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


47 


mill  frowns),  and  the  junction  of  the  river  with  the 
Illinois,  all  show  a  fair  amount  of  knowledge  gained, 
possibly,  as  early  as  1669-70,  when  Allouez  visited 
the  various  tribes  around  Green  Bay  and  west  and 
south  thereof.  The  tribe  that  now  most  interests 
us  is  known  to  have  been  at  the  bend  of  Wolf 
river  in  what  is  now  Sugar  Bush  township,  Outaga- 
mie  county,  Wisconsin;  the  Mascoutins  are  placed 


REPRODUCTION  DK  CARTES,  BY  M.  SHAFER,  IN  LENOX  LIBRARY, 
SHOWING  THE  LOCATION  OF  THE  OUTAGAMY  (Fox)  VILLAGE. 


on  old  maps  not  far  from  the  present  site  of  Waukon, 
and  the  Kickapoos  near  the  head  of  Rock  river. 
.  During  the  sixty  years,  or  more,  that  Maramech 
was  known  to  exist  by  the  French,  its  center  shifted, 
but  at  what  is  now  known  as  Sylvan  Springs  was 
probably  the  main  council  fire.  There,  in  the  heavy 
timber,  the  wigwams  were  best  sheltered  from  the 
winter  blasts.  The  great  trees  of  those  days  have 


48  LOST   MARAMECH 

no  doubt  gone  into  decay,  but  the  shelter  was  then 
as  it  is  now  under  the  newer  ones.  The  tempting 
shades  of  the  great  elm  and  walnut  trees  attracted 
the  weary,  and  the  springs  along  the  bluff  formed 
an  inexhaustible  supply  of  cool  water.  Opposite 
Sylvan  Springs,  where  the  corn  now  grows  luxur 
iantly,  were  the  fields  of  Maramech.  Along  the 
border  of  the  river  are  a  few  mounds  which  mark 
the  last  resting-places  of  the  chiefs  of  an  older  race 
that  occupied  the  region  long  before  the  Miamis 
had  built  the  cabins  of  Maramech.  Still  down  the 
river,  upon  the  same  side,  Rob  Roy  creek  adds  its 
mite  to  the  waters  of  the  river.  Here,  upon  a 
slight  elevation,  seems  to  have  been,  at  some  time,  a 
nucleus  of  population,  and  behind  it,  upon  the  slope 
of  the  hill,  more  fragments  of  pottery  have  been 
found  than  elsewhere,  which  makes  it  seem  that 
this,  for  a  time,  may  have  been  the  "pottery"  of 
the  "great  village  of  Maramech."  The  soil  has 
been  turned  so  many  times,  during  the  last  thirty 
years,  that  potsherds,  never  too  well  burned,  have 
crumbled,  and  where,  not  many  years  ago,  frag 
ments  were  quite  abundant,  few  are  now  found. 
Where  Big  Rock  creek  adds  its  coolness  to  the 
waters  of  the  river,  was  another  congested  position. 
This  we  know  by  the  cabin  sites,  indicated  by  frag 
ments  of  burnt  stones.  Behind  this  is  a  bit  of 
prairie  that  was,  no  doubt,  under  cultivation  for 
years,  and  along  the  foot  of  the  hill  were  places  of 
burial. 


Work  of  the  Potters  of  MaramecL. 


.:-.-• 


CHAPTER  III 

On  the  bold  bluff,  up  the  river  and  to  the  east,  a 
mile  or  more,  sleep  many  of  the  denizens  of  Mara- 
mech.  Carefully  made  graves  prove  the  veneration 
of  the  savages  for  their  dead.  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  poetic  inspiration  that  led  to  the  selection  of 
a  spot  where  the  beauties  of  Nature  are  so  boun 
teous.  Sloping  to  the  sun,  the  river  approaches  the 
foot  of  the  hill.  Rushes  shed  their  flossy  tresses 
when  stirred  by  the  breezes.  The  goldenrod  and 
autumn  daisies,  the  only  intruders  in  the  yet  native 
sod,  the  open  wood  and  quiet  river  make  a  picture 
that  tempts  the  artist.  No  lettered  stones  mark  the 
places  and  no  owl  hoots  from  bell-tower.  These 
people  long  ago  sought  the  happy  hunting-grounds 
by  way  of  the  grave,  and  Maramech,  like  them,  is 
no  more.  Only  their  bones  and  a  few  potsherds 
tell  the  place  of  either. 

How  do  we  know  that  they  who  there  sleep  were 
the  people  of  Maramech?  La  Salle,  who  spent 
months  at  the  great  Illinois  town  near  Starved 
Rock,  in  La  Salle  county,  was  successful  in  uniting 
the  various  tribes  of  Indians,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  make  a  common  defense  against  the  Iro- 
quois.  Among  these  tribes  were  the  Miamis  of 
Maramech,  Pepikokias,  and  Kilatikas.  Some  were 
led  to  settle  on  Buffalo  Rock,  a  few  miles  east  of 
Starved  Rock,  and  many  had  already  made  their 
homes  along  the  Pestekouy  near  by.  The  branch 

49 


LOST    MARAMECH 


From  M*p  of 

Louisiana ,  C&n&c 

?  LENOX  LIBRARY 

1718. 


of  the  Miamis  that  remained  at  Maramech  received 
from  the  French  traders  the  goods,  useful  and  orna 
mental,  which  they  needed.  In  their  graves  have 
been  found  beautiful  fabrics.  Among  the  finest 

were  fragments  of 
a  broadcloth  robe, 
thickly  beset  with 
silver  buckles 
the  size  of  a 
dime.  Rouge  and 
"cheap-John"  ar 
ticles  of  various 
kinds  have  repaid 
the  efforts  of  cu 
riosity  seekers.  A  finely  wrought  bullet-mould  cut 
from  a  bit  of  argillaceous  shale,  gives  proof  of 
skillful  workmanship.  Two  parts,  with  a  half  sphere 
worked  in  each,  an  opening  formed  between  the 
two  into  which  the  molten  lead  was  poured,  and 
grooves  at  the  ends  and  sides  in  which  the  string 
binding  might  lie,  served  a  purpose  equal  to  the 
best  bullet-mould  of  the  gunsmith  of  to-day. 

No  stones  mark  the  graves,  and  the  slight 
depressions  visible  forty  years  ago  have  become 
filled  with  sediment  so  that  the  exact  places  of 
sepulture  are  only  made  known  when,  for  pelf,  the 
gravel  of  this  hillside  is  carted  away.  The  frag 
ments  of  bark,  now  nearly  dust,  show  the  winding 
sheet  to  have  been  taken  from  the  giant  trees  then 
near  by.  I  have  before  me  a  fragmentary  skull  of 
one  of  the  people  of  Maramech.  If  it  had  a 
tongue  we  know  it  might  tell  much;  that  it  would 
tell  us  of  the  brighter  side  of  life  is  evidenced  by  the 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  51 

teeth,  as  little  worn  and  white  as  those  of  the  dandy 
of  to-day;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  they 
required  the  care  of  a  dentist.  The  wisdom  tooth 
shows  maturity  and,  if  of  a  male,  as  seems  probable, 
we  might  hear  the  story  of  the  first  visit  of  the 
Frenchmen;  of  the  wars  made  by  the  Iroquois,  or  of 
the  raids,  in  turn,  against  the  warlike  Five  Nations. 
The  green  stain  upon  the  jaw-bone  tells  of  a  cheap 
necklace,  bought  of  the  French  traders.  This  skull, 
finely  formed,  speaks  of  the  brain  of  a  man  of  intel 
ligence.  Unlettered  though  its  possessor,  he  may 
have  swayed  the  multitude  in  council.  His  eloquent 
tongue  and  logical  reasoning,  for  which  the  red  man 
was  ever  noted,  may  have  equaled  that  of  Tecumseh 
or  Red  Jacket.  He  may,  in  fact,  have  been  one  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  "Great  Village  of  Maramech." 

From  a  cabin,  in  the  shade  of  the  overhanging 
trees  that  border  the  beautiful  Pestekouy,  we  seem 
to  see  a  bier  borne  by  braves,  on  which,  wrapped  in 
his  robes  of  fur,  lies  the  conquered  warrior.  Ten 
derly  his  clay  is  laid  in  the  dugout,  hewn  from  a 
great  tree  trunk,  in  which,  at  bow  and  stern,  kneel 
the  ones  whose  chosen  duty  it  is  to  row  it  o'er  the 
rippling  river.  In  cadence  with  the  dipping  paddles 
are  mournful  songs  and  dirges  sung.  The  cortege 
passes  the  low  island  and  onward  to  the  green  hill 
side,  bared  to  the  sun,  where  waits  the  new-made 
grave. 

When  the  spirit  departed  on  its  long  journey  to 
the  happy  hunting-grounds,  the  erstwhile  owner  of 
this  fragment  was  wept.  With  this  fragment  was 
found  a  piece  of  the  bone  of  the  buffalo  which,  when 
covered  with  flesh,  had  been  placed  with  the  body 


52  LOST   MARAMECH 

to  sustain  the  spirit  on  its  long  way.  Rude  though 
the  coffin,  it  was  of  hewn  walnut,  that  wood  so 
prized  to-day.  No  hearse  was  trundled  over  pave 
ment  stones,  but  a  pageant,  bowed  with  grief,  carried 
the  body  to  its  resting-place  on  an  impromptu  bier. 
Loving  hands  wrapped  the  remains  in  the  furs  and 
blankets,  and  there  placed  the  ornaments  the  spirits 
of  which  were  expected  to  adorn  the  departed  soul. 
We  do  not  know  what  thoughts  prompted  the  burial 
of  possessions  with  the  body;  perhaps  it  was  in 
accordance  with  the  beliefs  of  many  tribes  that  ani 
mals  and  material  things  have  souls.  The  dog  was 
buried  with  its  master  to  serve  him  in  the  new 
hunting-grounds.  A  kettle  was  broken  and  buried 
there  so  that,  also  being  dead,  its  soul  might  be 
valuable  to  the  departed. 

If  this  fragment  that  formed  the  brain  cavity  could 
talk  it  might  tell  us  of  the  war  dance,  of  the  corn 
festival  and  of  the  sugar  making.  It  might  tell  us 
of  the  many  industries.  I  seem  to  hear  it  speak  of 
the  mortar  scooped  in  a  log,  and  of  the  women, 
young  and  fair,  pounding  corn  for  the  sagamite, 
while  admiring  warriors  are  lounging  near.  The 
little  metate*  I  found  near  the  spring,  little  more  than 
a  brick  in  size,  slightly  hollowed  upon  one  side, 
served  to  grind  the  nuts  that  seasoned  the  mess  of 
pottage.  This  shattered  skull  might  tell  of  the 
weavers  of  buffalo  wool,  busy  at  the  primitive 
looms,  and  the  potters,  their  clay  tempered  with 
crushed  granite,  forming  the  vessels  we  now  find 
only  in  pieces. 

*  A  hollowed  stone  on  which,  with  another  stone,  corn,  nuts 
and  grain  were  crushed  or  ground. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  53 

In  their  day-dreams  the  loved  ones,  whom  the 
departed  had  left  behind,  watched  the  soul  on  its 
way  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds.  On  and  on  they 
seemed  to  see  him  wander,  with  faithful  dog  that 
mocked  his  every  turn.  Where  shades  of  summer 
trees,  clambering  vines  and  carpets  of  the  softest 
mosses  tempted  him,  he  took  his  frequent  rests. 
The  pleasing  thoughts  of  the  watching  loved  ones, 
inspired  by  his  progress,  were  dispelled  by  visions 
in  which  dream-clad  feet  outstripped  him  and  they 
saw,  far  before  him,  the  rapid  river  he  must  cross  or 
his  soul  perish.  The  slender  fallen  tree,  laid  by  the 
Great  Spirit,  reaching  from  shore  to  shore  and 
shaken  by  the  rapid  waters  that  swirled  around  its 
immersed  branches,  was  yet  to  test  his  courage. 
While  in  the  flesh  he  had  no  dread  of  wars.  For 
years  his  scalp  had  been  a  freely-offered  prize  to 
any  one  of  other  tribes  with  courage  and  of  strength 
to  take  it;  but  at  last  he  cowered.  Many  passed 
before  him,  but  others  failed.  The  weaker  souls 
fell  to  be  swept  into  an  unconscious  eternity.  Those 
left  by  him  on  this  mortal  shore  feared,  in  dreams 
of  night,  and  hoped  in  their  dreams  of  waking  hours, 
as  love  only  can,  and  longed  to  see  him  reach  the 
land  of  sun  and  everlasting  flowers  that,  bounded  by 
the  lisping  waters  of  the  quiet  western  sea,  should 
be  to  him  a  place  of  rest  as  long  as  stars  should  gem 
the  great  white  river  overhead.  He  reached  the 
swaying  bridge  and  was  appalled,  but  go  he  must. 
The  beckoning  hands  on  the  other  shore  of  eternity, 
and  the  words  of  inspiration,  spurred  him  to  his 
utmost  and,  with  halting  steps  and  snail-like  prog 
ress,  his  long  journey  found  its  end;  so,  too,  did  that 


54  LOST   MARAMECH 

of  his  faithful  pet  and  slave  that,  trembling  in  every 
limb  upon  the  frail  bridge,  dogged  his  steps. 

'Tis  ever  thus  with  cultured  and  with  savage 
minds.  In  their  waking  dreams  was  the  vision  of 
tireless  Love  and  Lagging  Hope,  hand  in  hand, 
leading  the  soul  of  the  late  departed.  When  came 
the  visions  of  the  night  despair  oft  cast  a  spell  whose 
shudder  woke  the  dreamer  to  again  be  cheered  by 
Hope. 

The  central  village,  in  1684,  was  estimated  to  have 
one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors,  which  meant  a  popu 
lation  of  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty;  but  the 
town  had  many  near  neighbors  that  were  occupied 
by  branches  of  the  Miami  nation.  Although  the 
various  Algonquin  tribes  were  from  time  to  time  at 
war,  they  were  also  often  at  peace,  and  then  they 
mingled  freely.  Upon  the  first  visit  of  the  coureurs 
du  bois  to  Green  Bay,  it  may  have  been,  that  the 
Miamis  and  Illinois  met  by  them  came  direct  from  the 
village  of  Maramech.  We  know  that  these  people 
told  the  traders  of  the  richness  of  their  country,  and 
we  know  that  Maramech  was  the  most  important 
town  near  Green  Bay,  unless  "Chicagou"  had 
already  become  permanently  peopled  by  that  tribe. 

In  imagination  we  may  spend  a  night  in  Mara 
mech.  The  winds  of  approaching  winter  are  [whis 
tling  through  the  maples.  The  weary  hunter  has 
returned  from  the  slough,  the  haunt  of  the  mallard 
duck,  with  the  result  of  his  day's  efforts,  including, 
perhaps,  a  wild  goose  from  a  belated  flock.  He 
heard  their  clanking  cry,  "go  look,"  and  sought 
them  where  he  had  seen  them  drop  in  the  rushes 
for  rest  after  a  long  southward  flight.  He  enters 


Relics  of  the  Miller  of  Maramech 
and  his  Mill. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  55 

his  cabin  and  throws  down  the  game;  but  few  words 
disturb  or  welcome  him.  A  mat  is  spread  before 
the  fire,  and  his  good  wife  brings  a  bowl  of  soup  to 
refresh  him  and  then  prepares  a  hearty  meal.  A 
duck  is  dressed,  cut  into  small  pieces  and  partially 
cooked;  then  cornmeal  is  stirred  in  and,  when  all  is 
done,  the  favorite  dish  of  the  Indian  tribes,  saga- 
mite  seasoned  with  meats,  is  placed  before  the 
hungry  huntsman.  While  the  meal  is  being  prepared 
the  children  are  at  play,  but  their  noise  is  hushed, 
for  nothing  must  disturb  the  returned  master  of  the 
cabin,  who  needs  rest.  After  the  repast  and  his 
smoke,  he  then  addresses  whomsoever  he  wishes 
and  from  that  time  all  are  at  liberty  to  speak  to 
him;  he  has  been  refreshed,  is  rested  and  is  again  as 
one  of  the  family.  He  tells  of  the  adventures  of 
the  day;  his  wife,  in  turn,  tells  him  of  the  little 
incidents  that  occurred  during  his  absence.  She 
removes  her  kettles,  replenishes  the  fire,  and  all  the 
children  gather  around.  The  father  repeats  a  stereo 
typed  folk-lore  tale  for  the  children  and  the  story 
that  he  heard  from  an  Iroquois  captive: 

"There  was  once  a  hermit  called  The  Long- 
Haired,  whose  memory  is  still  held  in  veneration. 
During  his  time  the  village  where  he  was  born  was 
attacked  by  a  great  mortality  that  took  away  the 
principal  men,  one  dying  after  another.  Every 
night  a  bird  of  ill-omen  flew  over  the  cabins,  flap 
ping  its  wings  with  a  great  noise  and  putting  forth 
sad  cries  that  aroused  the  fears  of  all.  No  one 
doubted  this  was  the  Oiaron,  or  beast  that  caused 
the  plague;  but  no  one  knew  from  whence  the  harm 
came.  In  this  terrible  extremity  the  council  of  old 


56  LOST   MARAMECH 

men  deputized  three  of  the  most  able  ones  to  pray 
to  The  Long-Haired  to  have  pity  and  aid  them;  his 
condition  did  not  permit  him  to  quit  his  retreat; 
besides,  he  never  would  condescend  to  come  to  the 
village.  He  gave  the  deputies  permission  to  come 
to  him,  however,  to  learn  his  last  resolution. 
They  came  at  the  appointed  time,  and  the  hermit 
showed  them  three  arrows  he  had  made  in  their 
absence,  and  without  communicating  anything  of 
his  design  he  said  he  only  requested  them  to  exam 
ine  the  arrows  in  order  to  be  able  to  recognize 
them.  That  evening,  toward  sunset,  The  Long- 
Haired  went  to  his  ambuscade  on  a  little  hill  that 
was  near  the  village.  The  bird  came  out  of  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  at  dusk,  spread  his  wings  as  usual 
and  named  distinctly  some  of  the  principal  men 
that  he  had  destined  to  die  the  next  day.  When 
the  hermit  perceived  the  bird  he  advanced  slyly, 
shot  him  with  one  of  his  arrows  and  retired,  sure  of 
having  wounded  the  bird  of  ill-omen.  The  day 
following  the  news  spread  in  the  village  that  a  cer 
tain  young  man,  who  was  alone  in  a  poor  cabin  with 
a  woman,  was  very  sick.  The  old  men,  attentive  to 
all  that  passed,  sent  to  visit  him  secretly,  as  with 
out  design,  the  three  deputies  who  had  been  to  see 
The  Long-Haired.  The  sick  man  was  too  much 
pressed  by  his  disability  to  be  able  to  dissimulate. 
An  arrow  had  entered  his  side.  The  arrow  of  the 
hermit  was  recognized.  Secret  instructions  had 
been  given  to  those  who  came  to  treat  the  afflicted 
one  and,  in  their  efforts  ostensibly  to  pull  the  arrow 
from  the  wound,  they  directed  it  in  such  a  way  as 
to  pierce  the  heart  of  the  wounded  man.  The  old 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  57 

woman,  yet  more  culpable  than  her  son,  was  igno 
rant  of  the  source  from  whence  the  stroke  had  come, 
but  perceived  well  what  the  old  men  had  done. 
She,  being  a  woman,  had  not  the  humor  to  belie  her 
sex,  and  sought  vengeance.  She  resolved  to  kill 
the  hermit  as  her  first  victim;  but  her  crime  was  not 
conducted  with  much  secrecy.  In  spite  of  her 
different  changes  of  form,  she  was  discovered. 
They  burned  her  with  all  the  refinement  of  cruelty 
of  the  Iroquois.  She  confessed  that  her  son,  being 
irritated,  had  wished  to  avenge  himself  on  one  who, 
returning  from  the  hunt,  had  neglected  to  include 
him  in  the  distribution  of  the  game.  She  sustained 
the  torments  of  the  fire  in  laughing  at  and  insulting 
her  tormentors.  After  her  death  the  plague  recom 
menced.  The  sorcerers  being  consulted,  responded 
that  the  unfortunate  old  woman  was  the  cause;  that 
she  had  been  changed  to  the  marmot  which  had  been 
her  mascot  during  her  life.  On  seeing  that  it 
retired  to  a  den  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  where  her  son 
had  changed  his  form,  and  had  been  wounded,  fire 
was  at  once  applied  and  smoke  having  forced  it  to 
come  out,  it  was  killed.  A  monument  was  erected 
at  the  entrance  of  the  den  to  testify  to  the  truth  of 
the  story." 

The  story  of  Wa-sa-ri  was  then  told: 

"Once  upon  a  time,  in  a  stream,  there  lived  a 
bullhead  and  his  family.  The  old  one  said  one 
day:  'Oh,  I  am  so  hungry;  I  must  go  out  and  find 
something  to  eat;  I  will  go  and  see  what  I  can 
find.'  He  wiggled  his  way  up  stream  and  he  saw 
the  tops  of  the  bushes  that  grew  on  the  bank 
waving  occasionally,  and  knew  what  it  meant,  He 


58  LOST   MARAMECH 

swam  to  that  side  of  the  stream  and  raised^his  head 
out  of  the  water  and  rested  it  upon  a  rock  and 
began  to  sing  in  a  half-monotonous  way  and  in  a 
piping  voice, 


~~1  1  — 

—  I  1  — 

We  -  sha  -  wa  -  wi    -    ni      kasb  -  kash  -  kash. 

[The  horns  of  the  elk  are  utterly  useless.] 

"This  derisive  song  annoyed  the  elk  and  he  came 
to  the  bank  to  see  who  was  taunting  him.  Seeing 
the  bullhead,  he  said  to  him:  'You  little  fool,  if 
you  don't  stop  singing  that  song  I  will  come  in  and 
kick  you  out  of  the  water  and  on  that  bank  where 
you  will  die.'  But  the  bullhead,  smiling,  kept  on 
singing  until  in  plunged  the  elk  and  repeated  his 
command;  but  still  the  bullhead's  squeaking  voice 
was  heard,  'We-sha-wa-wi-ni  kash-kash-kash.'  The 
elk  turned  to  kick,  but  the  bullhead  swam  clear  of 
his  heels;  turning  on  him  the  elk  again  kicked,  but 
the  bullhead  wiggled  out  of  danger.  This  was 
repeated  until  the  elk  became  exhausted.  Then 
the  bullhead  wiggled  his  way  cautiously  and  pierced 
the  cord  of  one  of  the  heels  of  the  elk  with  one  of 
his  spines  and  in  that  way  disabled  that  leg,  so  that 
one  hip  went  down.  The  elk  floundered,  but  the 
bullhead  quickly  stung  the  other  heel  and  the  hind 
quarters  of  the  elk  sank  into  the  water.  The  bull 
head  next  stung  the  front  legs  and  the  elk  fell  help 
less.  No  further  danger;  the  bullhead  stung  the  elk 
to  death.  Then  the  bullhead  invited  all  of  his  chil 
dren  and  friends  to  the  feast,  but  before  beginning 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  59 

to  eat  they  raised  their  heads  out  of  the  water  and 
with  a  squeaking  voice  sang:  'We-sha-wa-wi-ni 
kash-kash-kash.'  " 

Then  the  uncle  filled  his  pipe,  puffed  awhile, 
and  told  the  story  of  the  ducks: 

"One  time  Wi-sa-ka  was  walking  along  the  shore 
of  a  lake  and,  being  hungry,  wondered  where  and 
how  he  could  get  something  to  eat.  Soon  after  he 
saw  his  younger  brothers,  the  ducks,  that  were  flap 
ping  their  wings  and  quacking.  'Oh!  I  now  know 
what  to  do,'  he  said.  'I  am  going  to  catch  those 
fellows  over  there.'  So  he  pulled  some  long  reeds 
and,  getting  a  big  bundle  of  them,  put  them  on  his 
shoulders  and,  as  if  bent  under  a  heavy  load,  went 
walking  along  the  lake  within  sight  of  his  younger 
brothers.  The  ducks  soon  saw  him  and  said  to  one 
another,  'There  goes  Wi-sa-ka,  our  elder  brother;  I 
wonder  what  he  has  on  his  shoulders/  'Oh,  Wi- 
sa-ka,'  they  called,  'stop,  wait,  we  want  to  see  you; 
where  are  you  going?  What  is  that  you  have  on 
your  shoulders?  Tell  us  what  it  is.'  And  thus  they 
called,  but  Wi-sa-ka  paid  no  attention  to  them  until 
he  came  to  a  good  place  to  sit  down;  then  he  turned 
around  and  made  believe  that  he  had  just  heard 
them  for  the  first  time.  'Oh,  is  that  you,  my  young 
brothers,  calling  to  me?'  he  said.  'Well,  hurry  up 
and  tell  me  what  you  want,  for  I  have  a  long  journey 
before  me.'  'What  is  that  you  have  on  your  shoul 
ders?'  they  asked.  'Oh,  I  cannot  tell  you,'  he 
replied.  'Do  tell  us,'  they  said,  'we  will  do  any 
thing  you  ask  us  to.'  He  replied,  'Well,  if  you 
must  know,  they  are  songs.'  They  said,  'Let  one 
sing  to  us.'  'Well,  one  shall  sing  if  you  will  dance 


60  LOST   MARAMECH 

forme.'  'All  right,'  they  said,  and  came  waddling 
along,  single  file,  and  took  their  places  before  him. 
'Now,'  he  said,  'you  must  dance  hard;  I  have  a  lot 
of  songs  here  but  will  use  but  one,  for  I  have  a  long 
journey  before  me.  When  you  dance  you  must  shut 
both  your  eyes,'  he  said,  and  began  to  beat  time 
with  one  of  the  reeds,  and  the  reed  began  to  sing 
and  Wi-sa-ka  sang  with  it.  'Shut  your  eyes,'  he 
said,  'and  don't  open  them;  the  one  that  opens  his 
eyes  will  make  them  turn  red.  Dance  hard,  dance 
hard/  he  shouted,  and  away  they  danced,  their 
beaks  pointed  skyward.  'Bunch  up!  Bunch  up! 
The  best  part  of  the  song  is  yet  to  come!'  This  he 
said  and  kept  singing  as  he  untied  the  string  of  his 
bow  and  made  a  slip-noose  to  throw  over  their 
heads.  Just  as  he  tightened  the  noose  mud-hen 
ducked,  for  all  the  while  she  had  been  watching 
Wi-sa-ka  and  seeing  what  he  had  been  doing.  'Fly 
away,  fly  away,'  she  cried,  'he  is  going  to  catch  us.' 
As  mud-hen  ducked  her  head,  Wi-sa-ka  pulled  tight 
the  noose  and  caught  all  of  the  ducks  and  ruffled  up 
the  top-feathers  of  mud-hen.  Away  she  flew  into 
the  lake,  and  as  she  hit  the  water  Wi-sa-ka  shouted 
at  her,  'Ho!'  her  top-feathers  still  standing  up,  and 
as  he  shouted  his  forceful  breath  turned  the  top- 
feathers  farther  forward,  and  such  a  head  she  has 
had  ever  since.  And  the  red  eyes  she  has  were 
made  so  by  straining  to  see  what  Wi-sa-ka  was 
doing. 

"Wi-sa-ka  gathered  his  ducks  and  went  over  the 
hill  and  there  he  built  a  fire.  He  soon  made  a  big 
heap  of  coals  and  ashes.  'Here  is  where  I  am 
going  to  cook  my  ducks,'  he  said,  'and  I  will  sleep 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  61 

while  they  are  cooking.  When  I  have  had  my  sleep 
out,  I  will  get  up  and  eat.'  So  he  covered  his  ducks 
in  the  hot  ashes  and  coals,  leaving  only  their  feet 
sticking  out,  and  then  lay  down  to  sleep.  By  and 
by  some  foxes  got  a  smell  of  the  cooking  ducks. 
'Hello,'  they  said,  'it  is  something  good;  let  us  fol 
low  up  and  see  what  it  is,1  and  away  they  trotted. 
Coming  near  the  fire  they  saw  something  sleeping 
there,  and  presently  they  saw  that  it  was  Wi-sa-ka. 
'You  go  there,'  said  one  to  the  other,  'and  find  out 
what  there  is  so  good.'  'No,  you  go,'  said  one  to 
the  other.  Finally  one  plucked  up  courage  and 
went  over,  and  as  he  came  near  the  fire  Wi-sa-ka 
rolled  over.  Away  ran  the  fox  as  fast  as  he  could 
go.  'He  is  awake,'  said  he.  'No,  he  is  not/  said 
his  friend.  Then  back  the  fox  went,  and  when  he 
got  there  he  saw  what  was  in  the  bed  of  ashes  and 
coals,  and  motioned  to  his  friend  to  come.  They 
pulled  out  the  ducks  and  bit  off  their  feet  and  made 
up  the  heap  of  coals  and  ashes  as  before,  and  stuck 
the  ducks'  feet  back  as  they  had  found  them.  Away 
they  then  went  with  the  ducks.  By  and  by  Wi-sa- 
ka  awoke  and  took  his  time  in  getting  up.  'Now  I 
am  going  to  have  something  good  to  eat,'  he  said. 
'My  ducks  should  be  well  cooked  by  this  time. '  He 
slowly  poked  the  ashes  away,  but  all  he  found  was 
the  feet  sticking  out.  'Well,  I  slept  too  long  for 
this  duck;  it  is  all  cooked  away.'  Then  he  poked 
the  ashes  away  from  another  place.  Again  he  only 
found  the  feet  sticking  out.  Then  he  got  upon  his 
feet  and  began  to  suspect  something.  By  the  time 
he  had  pulled  the  ashes  away  from  another  place  he 
was  sure  that  something  had  taken  his  ducks.  He 


62  LOST   MARAMECH 

looked  carefully  and  saw  tracks  all  around  in  the 
ashes  and  then  he  knew  what  had  become  of  his 
ducks.  As  he  started  after  the  thieves  he  heard 
what  seemed  to  be  a  voice  overhead  saying,  'Neg-ya, 
Neg-ya'  [the  word  which  the  sound  seemed  to  imi 
tate  meaning  my  mother  in  the  Algonquin  tongue]. 
'Oh,'  he  said,  'my  mother  died  long  ago.'  But  the 
voice  kept  on  saying,  'Neg-ya,  Neg-ya,'  and  as  he 
looked  up  over  his  shoulder  he  saw  two  branches  of  a 
tree  rubbing  against  each  other  as  the  wind  moved 
them.  He  jumped  up  to  pull  the  branches  apart  to 
stop  the  irritating  sounds.  At  that  moment  a  gust 
of  wind  came  by  and  forced  the  branches  apart  and 
then  let  them  come  together  again,  catching  Wi-sa- 
ka's  hands  between,  and  there  he  hung  while  he 
beheld  the  foxes  eating  his  ducks.  They  taunted 
him  by  telling  him  how  good  they  were.  When 
they  had  finished  the  last  one  they  trotted  away,  and 
only  then  came  another  gust  of  wind  that  blew  the 
branches  apart  enough  to  release  Wi-sa-ka's  bruised 
fingers. " 

The  crimson  leaves  of  the  maples  made  the  story 
of  those  who  chased  the  bear  an  appropriate  one. 

"Three  Foxes  went  hunting,  a  long  time  ago. 
They  had  a  little  dog  with  them.  It  was  the  time 
of  the  first  snowfall.  By  and  by  they  struck  the 
trail  of  a  bear.  The  trail  went  up  a  hill.  They  fol 
lowed  the  trail,  the  little  dog  leading.  As  they 
went  along  they  saw  the  trail  leading  up  to  a  sumac 
thicket.  At  first  the  tops  of  the  sumac  were  waving 
to  and  fro,  and  then  they  became  still.  Presently 
the  bear  stuck  his  head  out  and  saw  the  hunters 
coming.  At  that  he  withdrew.  The  hunter  in  the 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  63 

lead  ran  around  to  the  other  side  to  head  him  off.* 
Then  another  hunter  ran  around  to  the  north,  and 
the  other  to  the  south.  Every  time  the  bear  ran 
out  there  was  a  hunter  there  to  head  him  off  and 
drive  him  back.  This  kept  the  hunters  running 
round  and  round  the  thicket.  By  and  by  they 
wounded  the  bear  with  an  arrow,  and  away  he  ran, 
the  hunters  after  him.  They  flung  away  their  bows 


and  arrows  and,  with  the  arrow  in  his  wound,  away 
the  bear  ran,  the  hunters  after  him.  They  pulled 
out  their  knives  to  grapple  with  him  and  slay  him. 
They  were  a  long  time  in  dispatching  the  bear.  By 
and  by  one  of  the  men,  the  one  in  the  rear,  stopped 
and  looked  all  around  him,  and  saw  that  he  was  in 

*Evidently  the  bear  was  pulling  the  tops  of  the  bushes  down 
to  eat  the  "bobs."  but  to  stop  to  explain  to  the  listeners,  who 
are  supposed  to  know  things  so  common,  would  interrupt  the 
flow  of  the  story,  and  to  interrupt  to  the  extent  of  asking  a 
question  is  not  allowed. 


64  LOST   MARAMECH 

a  strange  place.  On  looking  he  saw,  way  down 
there  below,  the  earth  all  green,  the  little  lodges 
and  little  people,  and  rivers  and  their  windings. 
Then  he  called  to  the  man  ahead:  'Ma-ta-pye,  hold 
on!  we  are  going  into  the  sky;'  but  Ma-ta-pye  paid 
no  attention,  neither  did  Wa-pa-na-shi-wa,  who  was 
pressing  the  bear  hard.  So  finding  that  his  com 
panions  paid  no  heed,  he  continued  the  chase,  and 
all  followed  the  bear  all  winter,  all  the  spring,  and 
all  the  summer,  and  overtook  him  in  the  fall,  when 
they  butchered  the  bear.  They  placed  the  meat  on 
sumac  leaves  and  then  they  began  to  throw  the 
various  parts  of  the  bear  away.  The  head  they 
threw  to  the  south,  and  there  are  the  stars  that  lie 
together.*  The  backbone  they  threw  to  the  east, 
and  this  is  the  cluster  of  stars  that  one  sees  early  in 
a  winter  morning,  and  thus  they  did  with  all  other 
parts  of  the  bear.  Wherever  the  parts  were  thrown, 
there  was  a  cluster  of  stars.  But  no  sooner  was  this 
done  than  the  bear  was  on  his  feet  and  in  flight,  and 
so  the  hunters  were  soon  in  pursuit  again.  They 
followed  through  winter,  spring,  and  summer,  and 
in  the  fall  they  overtook  him.  There  is  a  time  in 
the  fall  when  the  sumac  leaves  are  bright  red,  and 
that  is  the  time  that  these  celestial  hunters  each 
year  overtake  the  bear.  The  drops  of  blood  from 
the  bear's  meat  fall  on  the  sumac  leaves  and  stain 
them  red;  and  the  blood  also  stains  the  leaves  of 
other  plants  and  trees.  That  is  why  things  change 
their  colors  in  the  fall.  The  hunters  and  the  bear 
can  be  seen  at  night  by  looking  at  the  northern 

*This  is  what  is  popularly  called  the  little  dipper. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  65 

sky — they  and  their  little  dog  are  pursuing  the 
bear."* 

This  fairy  tale  must  have  originated  since  the 
coming  of  Europeans,  as  the  location  of  the  Bear 
indicates  that,  through  the  Jesuits  or  educated  per 
sons  among  the  traders,  the  author  of  the  tale  places 
the  Bear  where  ancient  astronomers  put  him. 

The  winds  of  late  autumn  whistled  in  the  maples, 
but  the  bark  cabins,  roofed  with  rush  mats,  were 
proof  against  all  weather.  All  were  now  ready  for 
sleep.  The  little  ones  first  sought  their  blankets. 
The  dogs,  unconsciously  fattening  for  the  feast  of 
welcome  to  the  first  visitor  to  come,  were  curled  up 
by  the  fire.  Wood  for  the  morning  was  in  readi 
ness.  Arranging  the  fire  to  keep  the  cabin  warm 
during  the  night,  the  wife  and  mother  was  last  to 
retire.  Few  were  the  cares.  Faith  in  the  warrior's 
bravery,  and  ability  to  provide  from  day  to  day,  per 
mitted  all  to  sleep.  The  warrior's  head  lay  easy, 
for  he  wore  not  the  crown  of  wealth.  No  stocks 
were  wavering  in  the  balance;  managing  no  corner 
in  corn  and  pulling  no  political  wires,  he  slept  only 
to  awaken  with  the  rising  sun. 

That  the  town  was  a  metropolis  is  known  by  the 
fact  that  of  the  relics  some  were  from  distant 
regions.  Tobacco  pipes,  cut  from  the  red  pipe- 
stones  of  Minnesota,  have  been  found;  arrow-heads 
of  a  variety  of  flint  not  known  in  the  region  are  com 
mon.  The  corn  raised  along  the  river  bottom  was 
traded  to  the  prairie  tribes  who  lived  mainly  by 

*Keen  must  have  been  the  eyes  of  the  author  of  this  bit  of 
Indian  lore,  for  the  little  star  at  the  break  of  the  handle  of  the 
great  dipper  is  hardly  visible  to  the  unassisted  sight. 


66  LOST   MARAMECH 

hunting.  The  traffic  carried  on  by  the  French  at 
Fort  St.  Louis  was  in  part,  no  doubt,  by  water  along 
Fox  river.  Early  maps  show  the  river  to  have  but 
one  rapid  worth  locating  and  that  evidently  near 
where  Maramech  is  placed  on  later  maps.  Between 
Maramech  and  the  Waukegan  portage  the  river 
Pestekouy,  now  called  Fox  river,  served  as  a  water 
way  for  light  canoes.  Skins  of  the  buffalo,  the 
bear,  and  other  fur-bearing  animals  were  taken  to 
the  lake  and  thence  to  Montreal.  From  Maramech 
southward  the  traffic  was  mostly  carried  on  by 
canoes  hewn  from  logs;  thus  the  "dugout,"  as  well 
as  the  birch-bark  canoe,  on  this  stream  showed  the 
skill  of  their  makers. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  commerce  between  Maramech  and  the  other 
Indian  towns  not  on  the  Pestekouy  was  carried  on 
over  the  trails.  The  alleged  map  of  Marquette 
shows  many  places  and  things  never  seen  by  Joliet 
and  him.  In  the  map  copied  and  published  by 
Thevenot  in  1681  (see  page  27,  of  this  volume),  a 
trail  was  laid  down  from  the  Mississippi  river,  near 
Rock  Island,  to  the  great  Indian  town  on  the  Illi 
nois  river.  Another  trail  is  laid  along  the  Fox  river 
of  Wisconsin  and  the  Wisconsin  river,  called  Che- 
min  d'Altie,  meaning  "route  of  going."  The  line 
from  Rock  Island  to  the  Illinois  river  is  lettered 
Chemin  de  Retour,  meaning  "route  of  return."  This 
route  of  return  passing,  as  in  fact  it  did,  through 
Maramech,  has  since  been  known  as  the  Sauk 
and  Fox  Trail,  so  called  because  later  passing 
through  the  great  Sauk  and  Fox  town,  Sauke- 
nuk,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  river,  and  eastward 
near  Wolf  lake  and  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  on  to  Maiden  in  Canada,  at  the 
mouth  of  Detroit  river,  where  the  "British  Father" 
supplied  the  wants  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  nations, 
among  others;  it  was  traveled  by  what  was  known 
as  the  "British  Band"  of  Foxes,  both  before  and 
after  the  war  of  1812.  This  great  trail  was  worn  so 
deeply  that,  although  the  plow  for  a  half  century  has 
turned  the  soil,  it  is  not  yet  wholly  obliterated. 
That  trail  connected  Lake  Michigan  with  the  Mis- 

67 


68  LOST   MARAMECH 

sissippi  river  at  the  point  of  nearest  approach,  and 
Maramech  was  as  a  half-way  house. 

From  the  great  Illinois  town  opposite  Starved 
Rock,  in  La  Salle  county,  along  the  north  side  of 
the  river,  ran  a  trail  over  one  of  the  great  prairies, 
five  of  which  approach  each  other  at  Maramech. 
From  where  is  now  the  busy  city  of  Ottawa,  along 
the  west  side  of  the  river  Pestekouy,  another  trail 
passed  near  or  through  Maramech,  and  then  turned 
to  the  Miami  town  of  Chicagou.  From  Maramech 
along  the  east  side  of  the  beautiful  Pestekouy  ran 
the  trail  that  connected  the  various  villages  located 
along  the  river. 

In  July,  1682,  La  Salle  went  part  way  on  foot  from 
Peoria  Lake  to  Lake  Michigan.  He  undoubtedly 
took  the  trail  that  passed  through  Maramech.  The 
other  towns  along  the  river  were  seen  by  him,  or  at 
least  were  made  known  to  him,  for  he  soon  passed 
on  to  Montreal  and  gave  to  Franquelin  the  infor 
mation  that  enabled  him  to  map  in  the  section  of 
country  around  Maramech.  (Margry,  Vol.  I.,  p. 
569.)  Henri  de  Tonty,  the  faithful  lieutenant  of  La 
Salle,  later  in  the  same  month  passed  by  land  from 
Fort  St.  Louis,  on  Starved  Rock,  to  Chicagou. 
(Margry,  Vol.  I.,  p.  612.)  A  long  day's  journey 
took  them  to  Maramech.  In  the  autumn  of  1687 
Joutel,  Cavalier  (La  Salle's  brother),  and  others 
reached  Fort  St.  Louis  on  their  weary  journey  from 
the  fated  colony  in  Texas,  in  haste  to  get  to  France 
to  urge  that  aid  be  sent  to  the  colony  last  estab 
lished  by  La  Salle.  They  struck  out  for  the  lake  of 
the  Illinois  (Michigan),  there  to  embark  for  Canada, 
in  time  to  take  the  vessel  bound  for  France.  The 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  69 

journey  was  "painful  and  fruitless,"  for,  having 
gone  to  the  banks  of  the  lake  in  very  foul  weather, 
after  waiting  there  for  five  days  for  the  sky  to  clear, 
they  embarked,  notwithstanding  the  storm,  but 
were  obliged  to  put  to  shore  again  at  the  place  of 
embarkation.  They  returned,  on  foot,  to  Fort  St. 
Louis  on  the  seventh  day  of  October.  Twice,  then, 
they  passed  over  the  trail  between  Fort  ^St.  Louis 
and  Chicagou,  and  undoubtedly  through  the  village 
of  Maramech.  In  December  of  the  same  year  two 
Frenchmen  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis  and  gave  notice 
to  Tonty  that  three  canoes,  laden  with  merchandise, 
powder,  ball,  and  various  other  things,  had  arrived 
at  Chicagou;  that  there  being  too  little  water  in  the 
Des  Plaines  river,  and  what  there  was  being  frozen, 
they  could  not  come  nearer.  It  thus  became  neces 
sary  to  send  carriers  to  bring  the  goods  upon  their 
backs.  Tonty  requested  the  chief  of  the  Shawnees 
to  furnish  him  with  people  for  the  purpose.  That 
chief  accordingly  provided  forty,  men  as  well  as 
women,  who  set  out  with  some  of  the  Frenchmen. 
The  honesty  of  the  Shawnees  was  the  reason  Tonty 
had  for  preferring  them  over  the  Illinois,  who  had 
the  reputation  of  being  thieves.  Empty-handed  the 
troop  took  the  trail  and  spent  the  first  night,  it 
seems  probable,  at  Maramech.  Two  more  days  of 
travel,  of  twenty-five  miles  each,  brought  them  to 
Chicagou.  Each  heavily  laden,  the  return  journey 
was  more  slow,  and  at  the  end  of  about  the  third 
day  the  loads  were  laid  aside  at  Maramech  and 
the  hospitality  of  the  Miamis,  then  at  peace  with  the 
Shawnees,  was  partaken  of.  Of  the  fatigue  of  the 
journey  we  are  not  told,  but  we  have  often  expe- 


70  LOST   MARAMECH 

rienced  the  winters  of  this  region.  The  abundance 
of  fuel  made  the  nights  endurable,  and  with  the 
presence  of  the  visitors  the  wigwams  of  the  natives 
became  scenes  of  festivities.  The  dance  of  wel 
come,  to  the  music  of  the  flute,  accompanied  by 
songs  and  folk-lore  tales,  made  the  night  more  a 
season  of  pleasure  than  of  rest;  old  friendships  were 
renewed  and  new  acquaintances  made. 

So  important  to  the  French  was  the  region  that  a 
representative  of  the  crown  was  kept  at  Maramech 
and  in  its  vicinity  in  the  interest  of  trade  and  to 
keep  the  tribes  united  against  the  Iroquois.  The 
French  believed  that,  should  the  western  country 
become  possessed  by  the  latter  tribe,  the  trade  of 
the  west,  and  largely  that  of  the  Great  Lakes,  would 
be  diverted  to  the  English.  Of  greatest  service 
was  Nicholas  Perrot.  Of  him  we  read: 

"In  addition  to  these  officers"  (referring  to  Tonty 
and  others)  "who  have  each  their  stations  fixed,  the 
man  named  Perrot  is  to  occupy  one  in  the  imme 
diate  neighborhood  of  the  Miamis,  in  order  to  exe 
cute  whatever  will  be  ordered  him.  This  place  is 
called  Malamet,  and  the  great  concourse  of  Indians 
who  repair  thither,  among  whom  this  man  possesses 
a  great  amount  of  credit,  induced  the  Count  to 
select  him  to  be  stationed  between  the  Miamis  and 
other  tribes  who  might  receive  advances  from  the 
English."* 

The  main  body  of  the   Miamis  was  on  the  river 

*A  footnote  found  in  the  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  IX.,  570,  states 
that  by  Malamet  the  Kalamazoo  river  of  Michigan  is  meant. 
The  location  of  the  "great  village  of  Marameck,"  has  not  been 
known  by  historians. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  71 

St.  Joseph,  where  is  now  South  Bend,  Indiana. 
The  "other  tribes  who  might  receive  advances  from 
the  English"  were  the  Foxes,  Sacs,  Mascoutins, 
and  others  of  Wisconsin.  The  English  had  tried  to 
reach  them  by  way  of  the  Straits  and  also  by  way  of 
the  Ohio.  To  have  been  between  the  Miamis  and 
these  tribes,  it  is  seen,  they  could  not  have  been  on 
the  Kalamazoo. 

On  no  map  of  the  time  is  there  laid  down  a  large 
town  on  the  Maramea  (the  Kalamazoo  river  of 
Michigan),  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  any 
thing  more  was  intended  or  attempted  by  travelers 
than  to  mark  the  location  of  a  river,  on  their  maps, 
and  give  its  name.  In  what  is  quoted  above  we  find 
the  words,  "This  place  is  called  Malamet. "  I  think 
the  compiler  of  the  document,  to  which  he  added 
the  footnote,  was  mistaken,  for  a  river  cannot  be 
referred  to  as  a  "place"  nor  as  a  "station."  It 
is  known  that  at  this  time  the  Miamis  occupied  a 
great  area.  La  Salle  collected  many  of  them  in 
1683  and  he  named  some  of  the  various  branches  of 
the  tribe,  particularly  the  Peanghichias  (Pianke- 
shaws),  Pepikokias,  and  Kilaticas.  On  Franquelin's 
map  of  1684,  in  the  "Colony  du  Sr.  de  La  Salle," 
between  the  Pestekouy  and  the  Illinois  rivers,  the 
Pepikokias  are  located.  They  were  also  a  branch 
of  the  Miamis,  Perrot  tells  us.  (See  map  of  1684.) 

Can  the  Governor  have  meant  a  river  when  refer 
ring  to  the  "chiefs  of  the  great  village"  of  "Mara- 
mek"?  When  speaking  to  the  Miamis  of  the  place 
he  called  "Malamet,"  did  he  also  mean  a  river? 
He  also  speaks  of  "other"  chiefs  there.  Now,  there 
is  no  group  of  towns  located  on  any  of  the  early 


72  LOST   MARAMECH 

maps  on  the  Kalamazoo  river  of  Michigan,  but  on 
nearly  all,  Maramech,  on  the  Pestekouy  (the  Fox 
river  of  Illinois),  is  laid  down;  and  on  that  river  is  a 
group  of  towns. 

Beckwith,  in  his  The  Illinois  and  Indiana  Indians, 
says  that  the  Governor  of  New  France  "requested 
the  Miami's  of  the  Pepikokia  band,  who  resided 
upon  the  Maramek  (Kalamazoo  river  in  Michigan) 
to  remove  and  join  their  tribe  located  on  the  river 
St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan."  In  the  quotation 
last  above  given,  it  is  noticed  that  the  Governor 
wished  them  to  be  nearer  to  him;  but  the  fact  that 
any  point  on  the  Kalamazoo  river  of  Michigan  was 
as  near  the  French  seat  of  power  as  any  point  on 
the  river  St.  Joseph  shows  that  he  had  some  more 
distant  place  in  mind,  and  the  fact  that  he  sent 
Perrot  to  a  place  called  "Malamet"  between  the 
Miamis  and  the  western  tribes,  and  thus  prevented 
the  Iroquois  from  having  communication  with  the 
western  tribes,  also  shows  that  the  place  could  not 
have  been  on  the  Kalamazoo  river  in  Michigan,  for 
there  were  no  important  towns  of  western  tribes  on 
or  near  the  Kalamazoo;  but  on  the  other  side  of 
Lake  Michigan  were  all  of  the  tribes  of  northern 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  including  the  Sacs,  Foxes, 
Mascoutins,  Kickapoos,  and  Pottawatomies. 

Maramech,  on  the  Pestekouy  river,  was  a  center 
of  population  and,  being  between  the  Miamis  of  St. 
Joseph  and  the  western  tribes,  who  the  Governor 
feared  would  be  influenced  by  the  Iroquois,  it  is 
clear  that  it  was  there  that  the  Governor  sent  Perrot. 
The  French  trinkets,  bullet-moulds,  gun-flints,  and 
finery  in  the  graves  on  the  hills  of  Maramech  lead 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  73 

to  the  belief  that  the  village  probably  was  something 
of  a  trading-post.  Beckwith  further  states  that 
"Nicholas  Perrot  had  been  commissioned  to  lead 
the  Maramek  bands  to  the  river  St.  Joseph,"  and 
that  "he  would  have  been  burned  had  it  not  been 
for  the  interference  of  the  Foxes."  Now,  the 
Foxes  were  found  all  over  the  country  west  of  Lake 
Michigan,  from  time  to  time,  but  their  home  was  in 
the  central  part  of  Wisconsin,  and  their  hunting- 
grounds  extended  far  into  the  present  state  of  Illi 
nois;  they  often  invaded  the  hunting-grounds  of  the 
Illinois  tribes. 

A  council  was  held  with  the  western  Indians, 
among  whom  were  Miamis.  In  one  of  his  addresses 
to  this  body,  when  brought  to  him,  the  Governor 
said:  "As  for  you,  Na-nan-gous-sis-ta  and  Ma-ci- 
ton-ga,  Miamis  of  Maramek,  you  are  the  chiefs  of 
the  great  village,  and  I  believe  that  you  have  visited 
me  only  with  the  consent  of  all  the  other  chiefs 
there.  I  will  believe  as  you  say,  that  you  have  no 
other  will  than  mine.  Perrot  told  you  that  you  must 
remove  your  fires  from  Maramek  and  unite  with  the 
rest  of  the  Miamis  in  a  place  where  you  could 
oppose  the  enemy,  and  make  war  on  him.  I  think 
only  of  the  repose  of  my  children.  ...  I  will  not 
believe  that  the  Miamis  wish  to  obey  me  until  they 
make  altogether  one  and  the  same  fire,  either  at  the 
river  St.  Joseph  or  some  other  place  adjoining." 
Any  place  on  the  Kalamazoo  would  have  practically 
adjoined  the  river  St.  Joseph,  and  if  Perrot  was  at 
the  river  Maramek  of  Michigan,  he  was  out  of  the 
natural  path  of  the  Foxes;  but  if  it  was  at  Maramech 
on  the  Pestekouy,  he  was  very  near  the  Foxes' 


74  LOST   MARAMECH 

hunting-grounds.  It  seems  that  Beckwith  must 
have  got  his  information  from  the  New  York  Colonial 
Documents,  where  O'Callaghan  makes  the  mistake, 
found  in  the  footnote,  by  saying  that  the  "Malamet" 
referred  to  was  the  Maramek  river  of  Michigan.* 

On  page  61,  Vol.  X.,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collec 
tions,  the  same  mistake  is  made,  and  it  seems  prob 
able  that  Professor  Butler,  the  writer  of  the  article, 
also  gathered  his  information  from  the  New  York 
Colonial  Documents  and  located  Maramech  on  the 
east  coast  of  Lake  Michigan,  between  the  Black  and 
Grand  rivers.  It  seems  to  me  a  foregone  conclusion 
that  Perrot  will  be  found  to  have  been  located  at  Mar 
amech,  the  village  of  the  maps,  "the  great  village" 
of  Maramech,  of  which  I  have  written. 

In  a  report  of  1694  and  1695,  ^  ^s  said  that  "Mes- 
si-ton-ga, "  a  "Miami  of  Maramek,"  in  a  speech 
delivered  at  the  great  conference,  "complained  that 
the  Miamis  of  the  river  St.  Joseph  rescued  by  force 
from  us  and  spared  the  lives  of  the  Iroquois  prison- 

*Charlevoix  and  his  map  of  1744  were  the  authorities  most 
depended  upon  by  historians  for  many  years.  His  map  shows 
fourteen  rivers  cutting  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  and 
but  three  the  western.  He  did  not  visit  the  western  shore,  to 
be  sure,  but  a  score  of  earlier  maps  would  have  informed  him 
fully  in  regard  to  the  many  rivers,  towns,  and  trails  long 
known.  Charlevoix  was  a  Jesuit,  and  he,  like  others  of  that 
order,  ignored  the  discoveries  made  by  those  not  in  sympathy 
with  the  Jesuits.  Had  he  consulted  Franquelin's  map  of 
sixty  years  previous,  he  could  have  shown  the  "Colonie  du  Sr. 
de  La  Salle,"  including  the  "great  village  of  Maramech. "  But 
the  discoveries  of  that  region  were  made  by  La  Salle, 'who  hated 
the  Jesuits,  justly  it  seems,  and  by  his  companions  who  were 
ministered  to  only  by  Recolets,  whom  the  Jesuits  gave  little 
credit 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  75 

ers  we  were  bringing  home."  (N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  Vol. 
IX.,  p.  621.)  If  the  Miamis  of  "Maramek"  had 
been  on  the  Kalamazoo  river,  they  would  never 
have  passed  by  the  Miamis  of  the  village  on  the  St. 
Joseph,  for  such  a  route  would  have  been  at  least 
fifty  miles  longer  than  one  leading  direct  from  the 
Iroquois  country  to  any  point  on  the  Kalamazoo. 
Again,  if  the  Miamis  of  "Maramek"  had  been  on 
the  Kalamazoo,  the  Governor  of  France  would  have 
had  little  occasion  to  make  such  an  effort  as  he  did 
to  unite  them  with  the  Miamis  of  St.  Joseph,  for 
the  fifty  miles,  in  that  case,  would  have  made  the 
villages  practically  within  hearing  distance  in  case 
of  war  with  the  Iroquois.  In  a  speech  at  the  same 
conference,  "Perrot  presented,  on  the  part  of  the 
Pepicoquis,  who  are  also  Miamis  of  Maramek,  a 
robe,"  etc.,  thus  associating  these  two  branches  as 
Franquelin's  map  places  them. 

A  veil  of  mystery  long  hung  about  Maramech 
Hill.  Some,  not  conversant  with  the  facts,  thought 
it  might  have  been  here  that  Black  Hawk,  in  1832, 
called  Shabbona  and  Waubansie,  the  Potawattomie 
chiefs,  to  a  council;  but  this  was  guesswork,  for  all 
definite  traditions  touching  this  hill,  if  any  there 
ever  were,  have  been  forgotten. 

Upon  a  September  day,  in  1874,  with  a  friend,  I 
climbed  the  hill  to  gain  a  view  of  the  panorama 
spread  out  from  its  southern  summit.  My  thoughts 
and  what  I  said  to  this  friend  at  this,  his  first  visit, 
proved  to  be  prophetic.  I  mentioned  the  many 
burial  mounds  on  other  hills  and  wondered  that  the 
so-called  mound-builders  had  not  chosen  this  beau 
tiful  spot  as  a  last  resting-place  for  their  dead. 


76  LOST   MARAMECH 

While  scanning  the  surface,  as  often  before,  I 
noticed,  for  the  first  time,  a  depression  and  a  ridge. 
The  ridge  and  its  ditch  were  easily  traced,  and,  with 
the  curved  brow  of  the  hill,  they  completed  a  circle 
enclosing  about  two  acres.  Pits  also  had  been  dug 
along  the  brow.  Here  had  certainly  been  a  defense, 
and  a  strategic  point  it  was  indeed.  Where  the 
ditch  met  the  southern  brow  of  the  hill  it  continued 
slantwise  down;  this,  I  thought,  must  have  been  a 
covered  way  by  which  the  water  of  the  creek  that, 
but  a  few  years  before  had  run  near  by,  was  reached. 
Indications  led  me  to  believe  that  the  ridge  had 
been  palisaded.  My  eyes  and  thoughts  wandered 
to  and  along  the  cool  spring-born  creek  to  the  east 
and  southeast,  from  which  this  hill  gently  rises; 
thence  on  to  the  river,  whose  waters,  particularly  in 
the  summer  time,  are  very  warm  and  not  well 
adapted  to  quenching  thirst,  and  further  on  to 
Sylvan  Spring,  in  the  shade  of  the  tall  trees  a  little 
distance  up  the  river.  I  said  to  my  friend  that 
trails  must  have  crossed  the  river  not  far  away,  and 
others  have  followed  the  river's  course.  I  also 
spoke  to  him  of  the  attractions  which  this  cool  creek 
and  the  springs  must  have  had  to  the  multitudes 
who  traversed  the  trails,  and  of  the  temptations  to 
the  weary  coursers  of  the  trails  to  stop  for  rest  and 
refreshment.  I  went  further  and,  pointing  to  a 
newly-plowed  field,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  at  the 
mouth  of  Big  Rock  creek,  said  that  we  should  prob 
ably  find  fragments  of  pottery  and  other  evidences 
of  a  prehistoric  occupation.  We  passed  to  the  fields 
with  hopes  of  finding  proof  of  the  existence  of  a 
village,  if  one  had  ever  existed  there  and,  while 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  77 

mounting  a  fence  to  step  into  the  field,  a  dozen 
fragments  met  my  sight  in  a  little  gully,  where  the 
handiwork  of  some  fair  potter  of  the  forest  had  gone 
to  pieces.  For  several  years  since,  my  spare 
moments  have  been  spent  in  walking  over  the 
site  of  this  ancient  village.  I  defined  its  boundaries 
well,  but  nothing  of  its  people  could  be  learned 
until  old  maps  had  been  consulted. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   FOX   TRIBE* 


autxpamis  apeltcs 
TOTEM  OF  THE  FOXES,  DRAWN  ON  A  DEERSKIN. 

*The  Fox  tribe  called  themselves  Mesh-kwa-ki-ha-gi.  It  is 
thought  by  Mr.  William  Jones,  a  descendant  of  that  tribe,  edu 
cated  at  Harvard,  that  when  met  by  the  Frenchmen  and  asked 
who  they  were,  they  replied:  "We  are  Wa-go-sha-hugi," 
meaning  to  say,  '  'We  are  of  the  Fox  clan."  Nearly  all  writers 
tell  us  that  Watagamie  is  the  Algonquin  name  of  the  fox,  but 
that  word  may  be  the  name  of  the  fox  in  some  other  of  the 
native  languages  and  given  to  the  Foxes  by  another  tribe. 

79 


8o  LOST   MARAMECH 

Somewhere  south  of  Lake  St.  John,  in  which 
heads  the  Saguenay  river,  a  stream  in  places  serene 
and  shadowed  by  cliffs  which  are  studded  by 
cedar  and  pine  trees,  its  depths  as  blue  as  the  sky, 
there,  in  a  wilderness  rich  in  all  its  primitive 
charms,  the  Fox  tribe  was  first  heard  of  by  the 
French  explorers.  For  our  rivers,  our  mountains 
and  lakes,  the  native  tribes  made  choice  of  names 
significant  of  some  prominent  characteristic.  It  is 
probable  that  no  braver  tribe  ever  lived  on  our  con 
tinent  and  that  no  wilder  region  is  known  than  that 
from  which  came  the  nation  called  by  neighboring 
natives  Musquakees — people  of  the  red  earth  or 
banks.  What  influence  this  wild  region  had  upon 
them,  we  cannot  tell.  We  cannot,  with  certainty, 
attribute  their  dispositions,  most  ferocious,  to  their 
having  been  nurtured  in  a  cradle  where  nature  is 
least  tame. 

As  every  nation,  from  time  immemorial,  has 
placed  upon  its  banner  an  emblem,  so  the  wild 
tribes  of  America  each  chose  a  totem  by  which  to  be 
recognized.  The  British  lion,  the  American  eagle, 
and  the  lily  of  France,  relics  of  barbarism,  have  no 
more  significance  than  the  fox  painted  upon  the 
wigwams  of  the  Musquakees.  When  the  French 
explorers  first  knew  this  tribe,  they  saw  the  picture 
of  a  fox  crudely  painted  upon  the  shields  and  wig 
wams,  and  at  once  called  them  the  Renards;  but  the 
Algonquin  name  of  the  fox  was  Watagamie,  and 
hence  the  neighboring  tribes  so  called  these  people; 
sometimes,  at  a  later  period,  however,  they  were 
often  called  Musquaukees.  In  the  French  records 
these  names  were  often  used  indiscriminately. 


Pu-ci-ti-nig-wa,  his  counselors  and  the  interpreter,  Fox  Reservation,  Tama,  Iowa. 
(Photo  by  Moore,   Toledo,  loica.} 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  81 

When  Canada  and  the  west  came  into  the  posses 
sion  of  the  English,  the  latter  called  these  people 
the  Foxes. 

Why  they  left  the  wilds  north  of  Montreal,  we  are 
not  told.  Later,  we  know,  they  were  driven  from 
pillar  to  post  by  angered  neighbors,  and  we  natu 
rally  concluded  that  they  may  never  have  been  con 
genial.  The  Algonquin  stock,  of  which  they  were 
a  branch,  extended  from  Cape  Race  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  down  the  Atlantic  coast.  The 
Miamis,  Sacs,  Foxes,  Kickapoos  and,  as  well, 
the  Illinois,  of  whom  I  shall  also  say  much,  spoke 
the  Algonquin  language;  but  among  the  tribes  there 
existed  differences  of  dialect  very  noticeable.  It 
will  not  profit  us  to  waste  printer's  ink  in  a  discus 
sion  of  the  origin  of  the  American  Indians.  Whether 
this  continent  was  peopled  from  Asia  or  Asia  from 
this  continent  we  may  well  leave  to  ethnologists. 
That  communication  by  the  way  of  Behring's  strait 
has  been  constant,  since  the  close  of  the  Glacial 
Epoch,  is  as  certain  as  that  the  Esquimau  paddles 
his  kayak  hundreds  of  miles,  sometimes  far  beyond 
the  sight  of  land.  About  midway  in  Behring's 
strait,  which  is  only  thirty-six  miles  wide,  with  Asia 
and  America  both  in  sight  on  any  fogless  day,  one 
standing  on  the  Diomede  islands  may  see  that  inter 
course  between  the  tv/o  continents  has  not  been  in 
the  least  difficult.  The  babel  of  languages  found  in 
America  is  only  accounted  for  by  the  supposition  of 
an  immense  period  of  time  and  isolation  of  the 
various  tribes,  from  time  to  time. 

Our  people  having  the  fox  as  their  totem  seem  to 


82  LOST   MARAMECH 

have  been  mentioned  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  of  1640. 
North  and  west  of  Montreal,  between  lakes  Nipis- 
sing  and  St.  John,  the  Ouachegami  were  said  to  be 
located;  also  were  there  known  the  Kristinon  and 
other  Algonquin  tribes.  Each  of  the  explorers  and 
missionaries  made  the  best  effort  possible  to  him  in 
writing  these  names,  and  we  find  the  name  of  a 
tribe  spelled  a  dozen  ways.  That  the  "Ouachegami" 
tribe  was  the  "Outagamie"  (Watagamie),  seems 
probable.  As  in  the  French  language  the  vowel 
sound  before  a  vowel  represented  by  our  w  has  no 
single  symbol,  we  find  in  its  stead  ou,  and  hence  we 
conclude  that  Ouachegami,  as  there  given,  and 
later  Watagamie,  as  often  spelled,  no  doubt  refer  to 
the  same  tribe. 

The  name  "Watagamie,"  the  Algonquin  word  for 
fox,  it  is  said,  was  chosen  by  this  tribe,  and  the  fox 
was  made  its  totem;  but,  if  traditions  be  depended 
upon,  it  seems  quite  likely  that  the  name  Musquaukee 
was  given  to  a  branch  of  the  tribe,  by  its  neighbors, 
after  it  had  passed  around  the  straits  and  reached 
the  western  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  near  Green 
Bay.  By  some  it  is  thought  that  they  bore  the 
name  Musquaukee  while  yet  in  Canada,  north  of 
Montreal.  The  legend  of  the  Red  Banks  tends  to 
lead  us  to  a  contrary  belief,  for  the  word  Musquaukee 
means  "red  banks,"  or  "red  earth,"  from  moskwah, 
red,  and  aki,  banks,  or  earth.  In  Vol.  II.  of  the 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections  is  found  the  legend  of 
the  Red  Banks,  as  told  by  an  Indian  woman,  then 
living  near  the  Red  river,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Green  Bay,  by  name  O-Kee-Wah,  or  "The  Sea." 
The  story  had  been  told  her  in  childhood.  She  had 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  83 

dreamed  it  over,  and  her  imagination  led  her,  no 
doubt,  to  magnify  the  deeds,  particularly  of  the 
people  from  whom  she  believed  herself  to  have 
descended.  The  fleet  of  canoes  was  magnified; 
the  number  of  warriors  was  greatly  multiplied,  and 
the  number  of  deaths  probably  greater  than  the  actual 
number  engaged.  The  high  lands  between  Lake 
Michigan  and  Green  Bay  present  bold  cliffs  of  red 
clay.  They  are  called  the  Red  Banks.  North  of 
the  present  city  of  Green  Bay,  some  twelve  miles, 
an  ancient  earthwork  may  be  traced,  evidently  a 
defense.  The  embankment  originally  high,  was 
probably  supplemented  by  palisades  as  many  simi 
lar  defenses  were  of  which  we  have  accounts.  A 
ditch  is  outside  quite  likely,  as  it  was  the  cus 
tom  of  the  Indians  to  plant  timbers  vertically  in 
the  ground  and  heap  the  earth  against  them,  thus 
leaving  a  depression  on  one  or  both  sides.  Evi 
dences  of  the  existence  of  three  bastions  may  yet  be 
seen.  The  embankment  formed  three  sides,  and  a 
precipice,  about  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  the 
fourth.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  early  tribes  to 
select,  for  their  defense,  places  that  Nature  had  best 
adapted  for  the  purpose.  When  I  shall  have  told 
the  story  of  Maramech  Hill,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  a  similar  choice  was  made.  In  each  case 
water  was  reached  by  a  covered  passageway  leading 
to  the  shore.  Steps  may  have  been  cut  in  the  clay, 
as  was  also  the  probable  case  at  Maramech;  a  cover 
ing  of  branches  of  trees  hid  those  descending  for 
water.  Palisaded  walls  about  the  center  of  the 
works  at  the  Red  Banks  served  a  purpose  that  we 
can  only  guess — quite  likely  some  structures  for 


84  LOST   MARAMECH 

housing  the  aged  and  invalids.  The  promontory, 
north  of  this  enclosure,  may  have  served  as  a  look 
out,  or  may  have  been  the  place  of  burial  of  some 
chief  of  an  older  people,  the  only  knowledge  of 
whom  is  reached  by  a  study  of  the  great  mounds  of 
the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  valleys.  In  the  far  west 
were  tribes  that  lived  on  cliffs  and  mesas,  so  nearly 
inaccessible  as  to  render  their  places  of  abode  prac 
tically  impregnable.  Their  fields  were  in  the  valleys 
below.  It  seems  to  me  probable  that  the  defenses 
at  the  Red  Banks  were  likewise  the  actual  village 
site  of  the  Musquaukee  branch  of  the  Foxes,  and 
that  the  hundred  or  more  acres  southward  were  the 
fields  in  which,  in  times  of  peace,  they  raised  their 
corn,  watermelons,  beans,  and  a  variety  of  other 
grains  and  vegetables,  long  cultivated  by  the 
natives,  regarding  which  we  have  been  only  partially 
informed.  The  corn  ridges  are  said  to  have  been 
visible  more  than  a  hundred  years  later  than  the  last 
occupation. 

Listen  to  the  romantic  account  of  the  tragedy  of 
the  Red  Banks:  We  seem  to  see  O-Kee-Wah  sitting 
at  the  wigwam  fire,  with  the  animation  of  childhood 
incident  to  her  advanced  years,  telling  the  story  as 
she  heard  it.  The  wigwam  fire,  always  small  to 
avoid  filling  the  cabin  with  smoke,  burning  spas 
modically,  lights  up  and,  in  turn,  hides  the  wrinkles 
that  tell  of  age.  Her  people,  she  does  not  tell  us 
how  many  generations  back,  were  with  the  attack 
ing  party.  She  seems  to  feel  what  these  warriors 
felt  during  the  struggle,  the  scenes  of  which  she  is 
painting  in  words.  She  tells  us  that  the  Sacs  then 
lived  with  the  Foxes  at  the  Red  Banks.  How  long 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  85 

they  lived  there  she  does  not  know,  but  they  were  a 
people  much  dreaded.  Their  fields  were  large  and 
fish  were  abundant  in  the  bay.  Councils  were  held 
among  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  they  united  with 
the  Menominees,  who  lived  on  the  western  shore,  to 
make  an  effort  to  rid  the  country  of  the  people  of 
the  Red  Banks.  The  Chippewas,  Pottawatomies, 
Ottawas,  and  others  formed  the  attacking  party. 
O-Kee-Wah  tells  us  of  the  immense  number  of 
canoes  filled  with  the  bravest  warriors,  who  landed 
along  the  beach  for  a  great  distance  and  moved 
against  the  Red  Banks  in  the  night.  It  was  before 
the  time  of  firearms  or  steel  arrow-points,  and  hence 
the  old  method  of  Indian  warfare  was  followed. 
Canoe  after  canoe  moved  to  the  foot  of  the  steep 
bluff  with  braves,  while  other  warriors  surrounded 
the  defenses  on  the  land  side. 

The  besiegers,  at  night,  sought  their  positions 
undiscovered,  except  by  a  woman  whose  parents 
lived  within  the  fort.  Unwillingly  she  had  been 
made  the  wife  of  one  of  the  Sacs,  not  far  away;  and 
as  she  ran  from  his  wigwam  to  her  old  home  she 
passed  the  lines  of  the  attacking  party.  Rushing 
into  the  fort,  she  awakened  her  family  and  ex 
claimed,  as  was  the  custom  in  cases  of  great  danger, 
"We  are  all  dead!"  Her  story  was  not  believed 
until,  at  dawn,  the  hour  usually  chosen  by  the  Indian 
for  attack,  the  full  truth  was  made  known.  The 
siege  lasted  many  days.  Both  besiegers  and  the 
besieged  fought  bravely.  O-Kee-Wah  tells  us  that 
the  blood  was  ankle  deep  within  the  walls;  that  the 
water  supply  was  cut  off  by  the  warriors  in  the 
canoes;  that  every  effort  was  made  to  obtain  it  by 


86  LOST   MARAMECH 

stealth  at  night,  and  by  dropping  blankets,  by 
means  of  cords,  in  the  daytime.  4  The  taunts  uttered 
and  the  thirst  of  the  braves  did  prompt  some  to  go 
down,  where  they  met  defeat  and  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  allies.  She  tells  us  of  the  heat  of  the  burning 
sun  and  the  dreadful  sufferings  from  thirst;  she  tells 
of  the  partial  relief  by  rainfall,  and  we  seem  to  feel 
the  pangs  they  felt  while  watching  the  beautiful 
waters  of  the  bay  lapping  the  shores  in  poetic 
rhythm — so  near  and  yet  so  far.  She  tells  us  of  a 
dream  and  of  the  words  of  the  dreamer.  "Listen!" 
he  says.  "Last  night  there  stood  by  me  the  form 
of  a  young  man,  clothed  in  white,  who  said,  'I  was 
alive  once,  was  dead,  and  now  live  forever;  only 
trust  in  me,  now  and  always,  and  I  will  deliver  you; 
to-night  at  midnight  I  will  cast  a  deep  sleep  upon 
your  enemies.  Then  go  forth  silently.'  ' 

Dreams,  mere  vagaries  as  we  know  them,  have 
often  been  considered  by  the  savages  either  as 
admonitions  or  commands  from  the  Great  Spirit  or, 
at  least,  warnings  from  the  Spirit  Land.  They 
served  as  an  incentive  to  action,  usually  greater 
than  the  commands  of  the  chief.  They  were  the 
rule  of  life.  Each  young  warrior,  when  nearing  the 
age  of  manhood,  sought  solitude  and  fasted  for 
many  days,  hunger  often  driving  him  near  to  mad 
ness,  and  in  his  troubled  sleep  to  dreams  of  war  and 
of  the  chase.  Whatever  the  material  object  he 
dreamed  of,  that  thing  he  made  his  mascot.  What 
ever  that  dream  was,  it  influenced  him  through  life. 

"The  dream  of  the  young  man  of  the  legend," 
she  continues,  "was  believed  to  be  a  direct  revela 
tion  from  the  Great  Spirit  and,  thus  encouraged,  all 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  87 

of  the  besieged  who  attempted  to  make  their  escape, 
while  the  besiegers  were  wrapped  in  deep  slumber, 
succeeded.  A  few  doubting  ones  who  remained 
were  massacred  when  came  the  following  dawn." 

That  the  Sac  (the  "Osaukies"),  the  people  of  the 
yellow  earth,  were  probably  from  the  same  region  as 
the  Foxes  is  made  evident  by  Black  Hawk,  who 
tells  us  that  his  great-grandfather,  Thunder,  a  Sac, 
lived  in  the  region  north  of  Montreal.  We  are  told 
that  the  Foxes  were  the  first  to  move  westward  and 
that  they  established  themselves  near  Green  Bay, 
Wis.  Whether  they  fled  from  belligerent  neighbors 
or  were  first  to  believe  that  to  remain  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Iroquois,  who  were  occupying  what  is  now 
New  York,  meant  extinction,  we  are  not  informed. 
Their  brothers,  the  Sacs,  were  found,  soon  after  the 
Foxes  are  supposed  to  have  come  west,  at  Saginaw 
Bay,  which  took  its  present  name  from  Saukenong, 
the  town  of  the  Sacs.  "The  Sacs,  although  few  in 
number,  are  divided  into  two  factions,  of  which  one 
is  attached  to  the  Watagamies,  and  the  other  to  the 
Pottawatomies,"  says  Charlevoix  (V.,  432). 

Fragmentary  records  speak  of  Sacs  sometimes 
being  allied  with  the  Foxes,  and  often  against  them. 
It  is  probable  that  it  was  the  faction  of  the  Sacs 
which  was  friendly  to  the  Pottawatomies  that  many 
times  turned  its  hand  against  the  Foxes;  but  it  is 
not  credible  that  either  faction  was  so  fickle  as  to  be 
one  day  with  the  Foxes  and  the  next  against  them. 
The  Foxes  would  have  put  an  end  to  such  fickleness 
by  effectual  means,  or  have  fled  the  country. 

Some  time  after  the  Foxes  had  reached  northern 
Wisconsin,  possibly  before  they  were  defeated  at 


88  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  Red  Banks,  they  made  common  cause  with  the 
Sioux  against  the  Ojibwas  (Chippewas).  At  a  cer 
tain  time  a  large  party  of  Foxes  floated  down  the 
Ontonagon  river  in  their  small  canoes.  They 
landed  in  the  night  on  the  island  of  the  Ojibwas, 
and  early  in  the  morning  captured  four  women  who 
had  gone  to  gather  wood.  The  revenge  of  the 
Ojibwas  was  quick  and  complete.  As  the  Foxes, 
by  their  exultant  yells,  made  known  to  their  enemies 
the  course  of  their  flight,  hundreds  of  Ojibwa  war 
riors  hastily  embarked  in  their  large  lake  canoes  in 
pursuit.  A  dense  fog  covered  the  lake  and,  de 
pending  upon  this  for  eventual  escape  and  confident 
in  their  numbers,  the  Foxes,  intoxicated  with  their 
success,  kept  up  a  continual  yelling  and  singing. 
The  Ojibwas,  thus  guided,  silently  and  swiftly  pur 
sued  them,  purposely  keeping  in  their  wake  until 
they  arrived  opposite  a  steep,  rocky  coast  a  mile 
above  the  mouth  of  Montreal  river  and  eight  leagues 
from  the  "Point,"  where  they  fell  on  the  Foxes 
with  great  fury.  Fighting  in  large  canoes  which  sat 
firmly  in  the  water,  they  almost  destroyed  the  entire 
party  of  four  hundred  Foxes  who,  being  in  small 
canoes,  were  upset  and  most  of  them  drowned  or 
dispatched  in  the  water. 

Soon  after  the  above  occurrence,  the  tradition 
informs  us,  a  party  of  Foxes  fell  on  a  camp  of 
Ojibwas  while  the  men  were  out  hunting.  They 
captured  two  youths,  having  driven  them  into  boggy 
ground.  One  of  the  prisoners  was  the  son  of  the 
principal  Ojibwa  chief.  The  father  of  the  young 
man  was  one  of  the  hunting  party.  Upon  his  return 
home  he  heard  the  heart-rending  news  and,  knowing 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  89 

that  the  boy's  fate  would  be  the  stake,  he  imme 
diately  pursued  the  retreating  captors  alone.  Fol 
lowing  in  their  trail  he  arrived  at  one  of  their 
principal  villages,  where  the  Foxes  were  in  the  act 
of  burning  their  captive.  He  stepped  boldly  into 
the  midst  of  his  enemies  and  requested  that  he  be 
allowed  to  take  the  place  of  his  son.  "My  son," 
said  he,  "has  seen  but  a  few  winters;  his  feet  have 
never  trod  the  warpath;  but  the  hairs  of  my  head 
are  white,  and  over  the  graves  of  my  relatives  I 
have  hung  many  scalps  that  I  have  taken  from  the 
heads  of  your  warriors."  The  old  war  chief's  offer 
was  accepted  by  the  Foxes;  his  son  was  released 
and  himself  burned  at  the  stake  with  all  the  tortures 
that  savage  ingenuity  could  invent. 

The  story  of  Damon  and  Pythias  has  often  been 
acted  among  the  savage  tribes  of  America,  and  the 
above  instance  is  only  one  of  the  hundred  that  have 
become  matters  of  history, 

The  son  returned  to  his  people  and  was  afterward 
known  by  the  name  of  his  father.  This  act  was  ter 
ribly  avenged  by  the  Ojibwa  tribe.  A  large  party 
was  collected  and  sent  against  the  towns  of  the 
Foxes,  and  it  did  not  return  until  after  six  villages 
of  their  enemy  had  been  laid  waste  and  the  inhabit 
ants  killed  or  driven  away.  The  war  between  these 
tribes  was  bloody  in  the  extreme,  and  was  carried 
on  with  all  the  cruelty  of  savage  warfare.  Captives 
were  taken  and  burned.  The  practice  of  torturing 
an  enemy  existed  among  the  savages  before  the 
coming  of  the  white  man,  and  long  before  the  Foxes 
left  the  vicinity  of  Montreal.  Notwithstanding 
this,  a  tradition  exists  among  the  Ojibwas  which 


go  LOST   MARAMECH 

purports  to  be  an  account  of  the  origin  of  the  cus 
tom.  (Schoolcraft,  Part  II.,  142.) 

"A  noted  warrior  of  the  Ojibwas  was  once  taken 
captive  by  his  nephew,  the  son  of  his  sister,  who 
had  been  captured  and  married  among  the  Foxes. 
The  nephew,  to  show  the  Foxes,  of  whom  he  had 
practically  become  one,  his  utter  disregard  for  any 
relationship  with  the  Ojibwas,  planted  a  stake  in 
the  ground  and,  taking  his  captive  by  the  arm,  tied 
his  feet  and  hands  to  the  stake,  remarking  that  he 
wished  to  warm  his  uncle  by  a  good  fire.  He  then 
built  a  large  fire,  and  after  roasting  one  side  of  his 
captive,  turned  the  other  to  the  blaze.  When  the 
naked  body  had  been  burnt  to  a  blister  he  untied  his 
uncle  and  told  him  to  go  home  and  tell  the  Ojibwas 
how  the  Foxes  treat  their  uncles.  The  uncle  recov 
ered  from  his  fire  wounds,  and  in  a  future  excursion 
succeeded  in  capturing  his  nephew.  He  took  him 
to  the  village  of  the  Ojibwas  where  he  tied  him  to  a 
stake  and,  taking  a  fresh  elkskin  on  which  a  layer 
of  fat  had  purposely  been  left,  he  placed  it  over  a 
fire  until  it  became  an  immense  blaze;  then  throw 
ing  it  over  the  shoulders  of  his  nephew,  remarked, 
"Nephew,  when  I  was  in  your  village  you  warmed 
me  before  a  good  fire;  now  I,  in  turn,  give  you  a 
mantle  to  warm  yourself."  The  elkskin,  covered 
with  fat,  burned  furiously,  wrapping  the  body  of  his 
nephew  in  a  dreadful  mantle  that  soon  consumed 
him.  This  act,  the  tradition  states,  was  repeated 
by  the  Foxes,  and  death  by  fire  soon  became  cus 
tomary  with  both  tribes. 

We  are  told  by  Schoolcraft,  for  whose  statements 
we  must  sometimes  make  allowances,  that  the 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  91 

Foxes  were,  in  a  measure,  allied  with  the  Iroquois 
in  the  wars  that  annihilated  the  Hurons.  He  would 
have  us  believe  that  they  formed  'a  part  of  the 
so-called  "Neutral  Nation,"  north  of  lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario,  so  often  referred  to  by  the  priests  and 
explorers.  It  is  not  easy  to  believe  that  this  tribe 
could  remain  neutral  and  thus  win  that  name,  if 
there  was  a  war  going  on  within  a  few  hundred  miles 
of  them.  However,  when  first  we  learn  of  the 
Foxes  with  absolute  certainty,  they  were  near  the 
head  of  Green  Bay,  where  they  were  making  history 
for  themselves  with  a  vengeance.  Around  Green 
Bay  many  small  nations  had  already  gathered  for 
mutual  protection  against  the  Iroquois.  Father 
Allouez  was  one  of  the  first  to  write  them  up;  but 
we  must  bear  in  mind,  when  reading  what  he  says, 
that  these  tribes  had  for  some  time  been  subjected 
to  the  contaminating  influence  of  the  fur-traders 
who  were,  in  fact,  the  true  discoverers  of  all  por 
tions  of  the  west,  rather  than  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
who  followed  them  and  claimed  all  the  honors. 

As  in  the  case  of  Joliet  and  Marquette,  the  priests 
were  mainly  drones  of  the  various  expeditions;  they 
usually  had  leisure  to  write  while  the  industrious 
were  at  the  oars.  The  hardships  they  tell  of  were 
likely  overdrawn. 

Of  the  Sacs,  with  whom  the  Foxes  were  often 
allied,  the  father  says:  "As  for  the  Ousakes,  they, 
above  all  others,  can  be  called  savages;  they  are 
very  numerous,  but  wandering  and  scattered  in  the 
forests  without  any  fixed  abode." 

In  an  account,  Father  Allouez,  referring  to  the 
Foxes,  says:  "These  savages  withdrew  to  these 


92  LOST   MARAMECH 

regions  to  escape  the  persecutions  of  the  Iroquois, 
and  settled  in  an  excellent  country,  the  soil  of  which 
is  black,  thus  yielding  them  Indian  corn  in  abun 
dance.  They  live  by  the  chase  during  the  winter, 
returning  to  their  cabins  toward  its  close  and  live 
there  on  Indian  corn  hidden  the  previous  autumn; 
they  season  it  with  fish.  In  the  midst  of  their 
clearing  they  have  a  fort,  where  their  cabins  of 
heavy  bark  are  well  suited  for  resisting  all  sorts 
of  attacks.  On  their  journeys  they  make  cabins  of 
mats.  They  are  at  war  with  the  Sioux,  their  neigh 
bors.  Canoes  are  not  used  by  them,  and  for  that 
reason  they  do  not  make  war  on  the  Iroquois, 
although  they  have  been  killed  by  them.  They  are 
held  in  low  estimation,  and  are  considered  by  other 
nations  as  stingy,  avaricious,  choleric,  and  quarrel 
some.  They  have  had  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the 
French  ever  since  two  traders  for  beaver  skins 
appeared  among  them.  If  these  men  had  behaved 
as  they  ought,  I  would  have  less  trouble  in  giving 
these  poor  people  other  ideas  of  the  whole  French 
nation,  which  they  are  beginning  to  esteem  since  I 
explained  to  them  the  principle  and  motive  that 
brought  me  to  their  country." 

This  is  one  of  the  many  sighs  found  in  the  Jesuit 
Relations — sighs  over  the  French  immoralities,  often 
uttered  between  words  of  praise  of  the  honor  and 
uprightness  of  the  natives.  An  investigation  made 
by  Schoolcraft  shows  that  the  Foxes  were  a  very 
large-brained  people.  That  they  were  brainy  is 
shown  by  their  activity  and  success  where  the  odds 
were  not  too  greatly  against  them. 

Judge  James  Hall  (History  ofN.  A.  Indians)  char- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  93 

acterizes  the  Foxes  as  "always  restless  and  discon 
tented;  Ishmaelites  of  the  lakes;  their  hand  against 
every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against  them." 
If  not  thieves  by  nature,  they  soon  became  such  by 
schooling,  and  the  traders  were  excellent  teachers. 


»    •"    -•       -  •"•~r-j*  jj"^ 
Fair  specimens.     Tama  Reservation. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Tradition  must  be  depended  upon  until  the  time 
that  the  Foxes  were  found  by  the  first  French 
explorers  who  left  definite  accounts  of  them.  They 
were  located  near  Green  Bay.  Whether  Nicolet, 
who  reached  Green  Bay  in  1639,*  found  any  of  them 
there  we  are  not  told.  The  traders  who  dealt  with 
these  tribes  made  few  records,  and  it  was  left  to  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  who,  as  was  their  custom,  followed 
the  traders  into  the  nooks  and  corners  of  the  western 
country,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  prepare  the  rec 
ords  now  known  as  \\\e  Jesuit  Relations,  and  to  tell  us 
of  the  natives  they  met. 

Near  the  Foxes  were  the  less  warlike  Menominees 
and  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins.  The  last-men 
tioned  tribes  are  said  by  some  to  have  been  related 
to  the  Foxes,  politically  or  otherwise,  which,  how 
ever,  could  only  have  been  through  intermarriages 
and  treaties.  The  Kickapoos  seem  to  have  been 
allies  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  in  many  of  the  wars 
against  the  French,  English,  and  Americans;  and 
one  or  both  of  these  tribes,  as  well'  as  the  Foxes, 
gained  the  enmity  of  the  French  to  such  an  extent 
that,  at  an  early  date,  their  destruction  was  deter 
mined  upon.  (Perrot's  Manuscripts.) 

The  result  of  all  the  struggles  between  them  and 
the  French  shows  that  the  determination  of  the 

*Davidson,  in  his  Unnamed  Wisconsin,  says  1634. 
95 


96  LOST   MARAMECH 

French  to  destroy  that  tribe  was  followed  by  years 
of  indifferent  success. 

That  the  Iroquois  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
driving  of  the  Foxes  from  the  vicinity  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  river  we  are  not  certain;  but  early  as  1661 
the  Iroquois  rounded  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan, 
on  their  way  to  attack  the  Foxes,  with  what  result 
we  are  not  told,  unless  La  Hontan's  story,  soon  to 
follow,  refers  to  it;  but  we  are  informed  that  they 
killed  a  number  of  warriors  of  the  Illinois  tribes, 
which  act  kindled  the  long  war  between  the  Iroquois 
and  the  last  named.  This  predatory  warfare  prac 
tically  resulted  in  the  breaking  up  of  the  Illinois 
Confederacy  in  twenty  years.  The  story  of  the 
early  defeats  of  the  various  nations  that  formed  the 
prey  of  the  Iroquois  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the 
Sioux  on  the  other,  was  first  told  to  the  French 
explorers  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary  in  1665,  where  a 
grand  council  of  the  many  tribes  inhabiting  the 
region  west  of  Lake  Michigan  was  held. 

The  Pottawatomies,  from  the  south  of  Green  Bay, 
Sacs  and  Foxes  from  the  west,  Hurons  from  the 
north  of  the  lakes,  and  the  Illinois  from  far  south  of 
the  Pottawatomies,  all  told  of  their  ancient  glory 
and  diminished  numbers.  In  addition  to  their  sad 
stories,  they  told  of  the  vast  prairies,  of  the  abun 
dance  of  game,  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  mild 
ness  of  the  climate  of  their  possessions.  Father 
Allouez  was  at  this  council  and  wrote  much  regard 
ing  it. 

Following  the  traders,  the  Jesuits  founded  mis 
sions  at  the  villages  of  many  of  the  tribes,  and  finally 
one  among  the  Foxes  and  the  Sacs.  These  allied 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  97 

nations  mingled  with  the  various  other  tribes  above 
mentioned,  most  of  whom  spoke  dialects  of  the  Al 
gonquin  language.  The  differences  in  speech  were 
largely  in  the  matter  of  pronunciation,  which  made 
it  somewhat  difficult,  even  for  the  various  Algonquin 
tribes,  to  communicate  with  each  other,  and  still 
more  difficult  on  the  part  of  the  French  to  make 
themselves  understood. 

Father  Allouez  prided  himself  that,  after  a  little 
labor,  he  could  make  them  understand  sufficiently 
to  enable  him  to  instruct  them  in  matters  he 
believed  necessary  to  their  salvation.  He  says: 
"The  country  of  the  Outagami  [Foxes]  is  to  the 
side  of  the  south,  towards  the  lake  of  the  Illinois. 
They  are  a  numerous  people  and  have  about  one 
thousand  men  carrying  arms;  that  is,  hunters  and 
warriors.  They  have  fields  of  Indian  corn,  and 
dwell  in  a  country  having  many  advantages  as  far 
as  hunting  of  the  wild  cat,  deer,  buffalo,  and  beaver 
is  concerned.  They  do  not  use  the  canoe,  and  ordi 
narily  make  their  journeys  by  land,  carrying  on  their 
shoulders  their  packages  and  game.*  These  people 
are  abandoned  to  idolatry  as  much  as  are  the  other 
nations.  One  day,  being  in  the  cabin  of  an  Outa 
gami,  I  found  his  father  and  mother  dangerously  ill; 
and  having  said  that  bleeding  would  cure  them,  the 
poor  man  took  some  tobacco,  reduced  it  to  a  pow 
der,  and  threw  it  on  my  gown  on  all  sides,  saying  to 
me,  Thou  art  a  spirit;  proceed  to  render  health  to 
these  sick  people;  I  offer  to  thee  this  tobacco  in 
sacrifice.'  'What  dost  thou,  my  brother?'  I  said  to 
him,  'I  am  nothing.  It  is  He  who  made  all  that  is 

*  This  will  be  found  to  be  a  mistake. 


98  LOST   MARAMECH 

my  Master,  and  I  am  only  His  servant.'  'Well,'  he 
replied,  at  the  same  time  scattering  some  tobacco 
on  the  ground  and  raising  high  his  eyes,  'this  is  then 
of  Thee,  who  hast  created  the  heavens  and  earth, 
that  I  offer  this  tobacco;  give  health  to  the  sick.' 
These  people  are  not  alienated  from  the  recognition 
of  the  Creator  of  the  world,  for  they  have  already 
said  to  me  what  I  have  reported,  that  they  recog 
nize,  in  their  country,  the  Great  Spirit  who  has  made 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  who  dwells  towards 
the  country  of  the  French.  It  is  said  of  them  and 
the  Ousaki  [Sacs]  that  when  they  find  a  man  wan 
dering,  and  it  is  to  their  advantage,  they  kill  him  if 
he  is  a  Frenchman,  for  they  cannot  bear  a  man  with 
whiskers.  This  sort  of  cruelty  renders  them  less 
disposed  to  the  Gospel  than  the  Pouteouatami  [Pot- 
tawatomies].  I  have  not,  however,  omitted  to  pro 
claim  the  Gospel  to  nearly  six  score  of  persons  who 
have  passed  the  summer  here,  but  I  have  not  found 
among  them  any  sufficiently  well  disposed  to  receive 
baptism.  I  conferred  it,  nevertheless,  on  five  sick 
children,  who  then  recovered  their  health. 

"As  for  the  Ousaki,  one  can  well  call  them  sav 
ages  above  all  others.  They  are  in  great  numbers, 
but  are  vagrants,  wandering  in  the  forest  without 
any  permanent  abode.  I  have  seen  nearly  two  hun 
dred  and  have  proclaimed  the  faith  and  have  bap 
tized  eighteen  of  their  children." 

Father  Allouez  speaks  often  of  the  Foxes.  In 
the  Jesuit  Relations  of  1669-71,  we  read:  "On  the 
sixteenth  of  April  I  embarked  to  go  and  begin 
the  mission  to  the  Outagamis  [Foxes],  a  people  of 
considerable  note  in  all  these  regions.  We  slept  at 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


99 


the  head  of  the  bay,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  des 
Puaus,  which  we  have  named  for  Saint  Francis.  On 
our  way  we  saw  clouds  of  swans,  bustards,  and 
ducks.  The  savages  set  snares  for  them  at  the  head 
of  the  bay,  where  they  catch  as  many  as  fifty  in  one 
night;  this  game  seeking  in  the  autumn  the  wild 
oats  that  the  wind  has  shaken  off  in  the  month  of 
September.  On  the  i/th  we  ascended  the  river 
Saint  Francis,  which  is  two  and  sometimes  three 
arpents  wide.  After  proceeding  four  leagues  we 
found  the  village  of  the  savages  called  Sacs,  whose 
people  were  beginning  a  work  that  well  deserves  to 
have  its  place  here.  From  one  bank  of  the  river  to 
the  other  they  make  a  barricade  by  driving  down 
large  stakes  in  two  brasses  of  water  [two  arms 
length],  so  that  there  is  a  kind  of  bridge  over  the 
stream  for  the  fishermen  who,  with  the  help  of  a 
small  weir,  easily  catch  the  sturgeon  and  every  other 
kind  of  fish  which  this  dam  stops,  although  the 
water  does  not  cease  to  flow  between  the  stakes. 
They  call  this  contrivance  mitikikan,  and  it  serves 
them  during  the  spring  and  a  part  of  the  summer. 

"On  the  20th,  which  was  Sunday,  I  said  mass, 
after  voyaging  five  or  six  leagues  on  the  lake,  and 
we  came  to  a  river  flowing  from  a  lake  bordered 
with  wild  oats.  This  stream  we  followed  and  found 
at  the  end  of  it  the  river  that  leads  to  the  Outaga- 
mies  in  one  direction,  and  to  the  Maskoutens  in  the 
other.  We  entered  this  first  stream,  which  flows 
from  a  lake;  there  we  saw  some  turkeys  perched  on 
a  tree,  male  and  female,  resembling  perfectly  those 
of  France — the  same  size,  the  same  color,  and  the 
same  cry.  Bustards,  ducks,  swans,  and  geese  are  in 


ioo  LOST   MARAMECH 

great  numbers  on  all  the  lakes  and  rivers;  the  wild 
oats,  on  which  they  live,  attracting  them  thither. 
There  are  large  and  small  stags,  bears,  and  beavers 
in  great  abundance. 

"On  the  24th,  after  turning  and  doubling  several 
times  in  various  lakes  and  rivers,  we  arrived  at  the 
village  of  the  Outagamies.  The  people  came  in 
crowds  to  meet  us,  in  order  to  see,  as  they  said,  the 
Manitou  who  was  coming  to  their  country.  They 
accompanied  us  with  respect  as  far  as  the  door  of 
the  cabin  which  we  were  made  to  enter.  This  nation 
is  renowned  for  being  populous,  the  men  who  bear 
arms  numbering  more  than  four  hundred;  while  the 
number  of  women  and  children  there  is  the  greater 
on  account  of  the  polygamy  which  prevails  among 
them,  each  man  having  commonly  four  wives,  some 
having  six,  and  others  as  many  as  ten.  Six  large 
cabins  of  these  poor  people  were  put  to  rout  this 
month  of  March  by  eighteen  Iroquois  from  Ison- 
nontouan,  who,  under  the  guidance  of  two  fugitive 
Iroquois  slaves  of  the  Pottawatomies,  made  an 
onslaught  and  killed  all  the  people  except  thirty 
women  whom  they  led  away  as  captives.  As  the 
men  were  away  hunting,  they  met  with  but  little 
resistance,  there  being  only  six  warriors  left  in  the 
cabins,  besides  the  women  and  children,  who  num 
bered  a  hundred  or  thereabouts.  This  carnage  was 
committed  two  days'  journey  from  the  place  of  our 
winterquarters  at  the  foot  of  the  lake  of  the  Illi 
nois,  which  is  called  Machikiganing  [Michigan]. 
On  the  25th  I  called  together  the  Elders  in  a  large 
assembly  with  the  purpose  of  giving  them  the  first 
acquaintance  with  our  mysteries.  I  began  with  the 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  101 

invocation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  whom  we  oaJ 
made  our  appeal  during  our  journey,  to  pray  for 'His 
blessing  upon  our  labors.  Then  when  I  h'aci,  bv 
means  of  a  present  which  I  thought  I  ought 'to'make 
them,  dried  the  tears  which  the  remembrance  of  the 
massacre  perpetrated  by  the  Iroquois  caused  them 
to  shed,  I  explained  to  them  the  principal  articles 
of  our  faith  and  made  known  the  law  and  the  com 
mandments  of  God,  the  rewards  promised  to  those 
that  shall  obey  Him  and  the  punishments  prepared 
by  Him  for  those  who  shall  not  obey  Him.  They 
understood  me  without  my  having  need  of  an  inter 
preter;  but,  oh  my  God,  what  ideas  and  ways  con 
trary  to  the  Gospel  these  poor  people  have  and  how 
much  need  there  is  of  very  powerful  grace  to  con 
quer  their  hearts;  they  accept  the  unity  and  sover 
eignty  of  God,  Creator  of  all  things;  for  the  rest 
they  have  not  a  word  to  say.  An  Outagami  told  me 
in  private  that  his  ancestor  had  come  from  Heaven 
and  that  he  had  preached  the  unity  and  sovereignty 
of  God  who  had  made  all  the  other  gods;  that  he 
had  assured  them  that  he  would  go  to  Heaven  after 
his  death,  where  he  should  die  no  more;  and  that 
his  body  would  not  be  found  in  the  place  where  it 
had  been  buried,  which  was  verified,  said  this  Outa 
gami,  the  body  being  no  longer  found  where  it  had 
been  put. 

"These  are  fables  which  God  uses  for  their  salva 
tion,  for  after  the  man  had  finished  telling  me  every 
thing,  he  added  that  he  was  dismissing  all  of  his 
wives,  retaining  only  one,  whom  he  would  not 
change,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  obey  me  and  pray 
to  God.  I  hope  that  God  will  show  him  mercy. 


102  LOST   MARAMECH 

"I  tried  to  visit  the  people  in  their  cabins,  which 
are  in  very  great  numbers,  sometimes  for  the  pur 
pose  '  cf  instructing  them  in  private,  and  at  other 
times  to  go  and  carry  them  some  little  medicine,  or 
rather  something  sweet  for  their  little  sick  children, 
whom  I  was  baptizing.  Toward  the  end  they 
brought  them  to  me  voluntarily  in  the  cabin  where 
I  lodged.  I  spoke  their  language  in  the  assurance 
they  gave  me  that  they  understood  me;  it  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Sacs;  but,  alas,  what  difficulty 
they  have  in  apprehending  a  law  that  is  so  opposed 
to  all  their  customs.  .  .  . 

"On  the  26th  the  Elders  came  into  the  cabin 
where  I  was  lodging  to  hold  counsel  there.  The 
assembly  having  been  convened,  the  captain,  after 
laying  at  my  feet  a  present  of  some  skins,  ha 
rangued  in  the  following  terms:  'We  thank  thee  for 
having  come  to  visit  and  console  us  in  our  afflic 
tion;  and  we  are  the  more  obliged  to  thee,  inasmuch 
as  no  one  has  hitherto  shown  us  that  kindness.' 
They  added  that  they  had  nothing  further  to  say  to 
me  except  that  they  were  too  dispirited  to  speak 
to  me,  being  all  occupied  in  mourning  their  dead. 

11  'Do  thou,  black  gown,  who  art  not  dispirited 
and  who  takest  pity  on  people,  take  pity  on  us  as 
thou  shalt  deem  best.  Thou  couldst  dwell  here  near 
us  to  protect  us  from  our  enemies,  and  to  teach  us 
to  speak  to  the  great  Manitou,  the  same  as  thou 
teachest  the  savages  of  the  Sault.  Thou  couldest 
cause  to  be  restored  to  us  our  wives  who  were  led 
away  prisoners.  Thou  couldst  stay  the  arms  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  speak  to  them  of  peace  in  our  behalf 
for  the  future.  I  have  not  the  intelligence  to  say 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


103 


anything  to  thee;  take  pity  on  us  in  the  way  thou 
shalt  judge  most  fitting.  When  thou  seest  the 
Iroquois,  tell  them  that  they  have  taken  me  for 
some  one  else.  I  do  not  make  war  on  them.  I 
have  not  eaten  [killed]  their  people;  but  my  neigh 
bors  took  them  prisoners  and  made  me  a  present  of 
them;  I  adopted  them,  and  they  are  living  here  as 
my  children.' 

"This  speech  has  nothing  of  the  barbarian  in  it. 
I  told  them  that,  in  the  treaty  of  peace  which  the 
French  had  made  with  the  Iroquois,  no  mention  had 
been  made  of  them;  that  no  Frenchmen  had  then 
been  here  and  that  they  were  not  known;  that,  as  to 
other  matters,  I  much  approved  what  their  captain 
had  said;  that  I  would  not  forget  it,  and  that  in  the 
following  autumn  I  would  render  them  an  answer. 
Meanwhile,  I  told  them  to  fortify  themselves  in 
their  resolution  to  obey  the  true  God,  who  alone 
could  procure  them  what  they  asked  for  and  infi 
nitely  more. 

"In  the  evening  four  savages  of  the  nation  of  the 
Miamis  arrived  from  a  place  two  days'  journey 
hence,  bringing  three  Iroquois  scalps  and  a  half- 
smoked  arm,  to  console  the  relatives  of  those  whom 
the  Iroquois  had  killed  a  short  time  before.  On  the 
27th  we  took  our  departure,  commending  to  the 
good  angels  the  seeds  sown  in  the  hearts  of  these 
poor  people,  who  listened  to  me  with  respect  and 
attention.  There  is  a  glorious  and  rich  harvest  for 
a  zealous  and  patient  missionary.  We  named  this 
mission  after  Saint  Mark,  because  on  his  day  the 
Faith  was  proclaimed  there." 

Father  Allouez  later  reports  to  his  superiors  con- 


I04  LOST   MARAMECH 

cerning  these  people  and  the  mission  of  St.  Mark,  at 
the  village  of  the  Outagami.  This  mission  was  the 
first  ever  established  among  the  Foxes.  He  says  of 
these  people:  "They  are  haughty  because  of  their 
numbers,  their  cabins  being  reckoned  as  more  than 
two  hundred,  while  in  each  there  are  five  or  six  and 
even  as  many  as  ten  families."  Reckoning  each 
family  at  five  persons,  this  would  give  them  more 
than  six  thousand  in  a  village.  He  says:  "Several 
other  nations  swell  the  size  of  this  one,  or  rather 
make  a  Babylon  of  it  by  the  disorder  which  reigns 
there."  He  regarded  them  "light  of  faith,"  having 
yet  made  no  impression  on  them.  "They  had 
formed  a  plan,"  he  further  says,  "as  they  are  proud 
and  arrogant,  to  take  vengeance  by  killing  some 
Frenchmen  for  the  ill-treatment  they  had  them 
selves  received  during  the  past  summer." 

How  mistaken  was  the  father,  for  the  light  of 
faith  has  not  yet  made  sufficient  impression  upon 
the  world  to  suppress  the  spirit  of  vengeance!  At 
the  present  time  our  laws  are  not  a  far  departure 
from  those  of  Moses,  and  when  the  spirit  of  revenge 
is  not  suppressed  the  mob  cries  out,  "An  eye  for  an 
eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 

The  father  tells  us  that  the  young  French  explor 
ers  did  not  dare  to  set  foot  there  for  fear  of  punish 
ment  which  this  father  and  others,  in  their  reports, 
showed  that  they  so  often  deserved;  but  the  vain 
glorious  father  informed  his  superiors  that  all  this 
did  not  frighten  him.  He  counted  himself  happy 
to  expose  his  life  to  evident  danger  in  order  to  bear 
the  Gospel  to  these  poor  barbarians,  as  he  had  done 
to  all  the  people  of  this  region.  This  father  was 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  105 

modest  in  comparison  with  some  of  those  who  wrote 
the  reports  known  as  the  Relations.  As  we  look 
over  the  field,  the  hundred  years  in  which  they 
labored  in  the  wilds  of  America,  we  find  that  they 
were  quite  safe.  A  few  were  killed,  and  some 
burned  at  the  stake;  but  all  things  considered,  they 
were  far  from  danger  compared  with  the  coureurs  du 
bois,  as  the  clandestine  traders  were  called.  Going 
over  their  experiences,  as  we  now  find  them  in  cold 
type,  one  impression  is  likely  to  strike  the  reader — 
they  prated  of  their  deeds  and  of  desiring  to  become 
martyrs,  but  they  showed  the  usual  amount  of  pru 
dence  in  their  efforts  to  save  their  lives;  they 
reported  their  sufferings,  due  to  ill-treatment  and 
hardships,  and  spoke  of  their  successes  in  the  wars 
with  the  jugglers  (medicine  men)  and  Satan.  They 
tell  us,  by  the  way,  of  a  custom  among  the  savages 
that  their  own  boastings  remind  us  of. 

When  war's  excitement  sways  the  savages  a  chief 
or  leading  warrior  wishing  to  recruit  a  force  to  go 
against  an  enemy,  plants  a  post  in  the  midst  of  the 
village.  Around  this  the  warriors  gather,  and  each, 
in  turn,  recites  the  brave  deeds  of  his  life.  He 
throws  his  hatchet  so  that  its  edge  strikes  the  post 
and  stops  there,  or  brandishing  it,  he  strikes  the 
blow  as  upon  the  head  of  an  enemy,  dances  around 
the  post  and  boasts  of  the  number  of  scalps  he  has 
taken,  and  of  the  prisoners  he  has  captured.  In 
pantomime  he  draws  the  bow  and  sends  arrow  after 
arrow  at  an  imaginary  foe;  he  jumps  as  if  to  dodge 
or  parry  a  blow;  he  leaps  upon  an  imaginary  enemy, 
bears  him  to  the  ground,  and  with  a  quick  move 
ment  of  his  knife,  cuts  the  scalp  and  tears  it  from 


io6  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  head.  It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that  his 
vainglory  exceeds  the  bounds  of  reason,  when  he  is 
immediately  humbled  by  some  warrior  who,  know 
ing  that  he  is  lying,  rushes  up  and  throws  some  dirt 
into  his  mouth.  The  Jesuit  Fatheis  had  no  such 
fear  to  restrain  them,  for  each,  alone  at  his  mission, 
had  no  one  to  dispute  him  when  writing  his  reports, 
or  accuse  him  of  overdrawing.* 


*The  above  facts  regarding  Allouez's  experience  are  largely 
gathered  from  Burrows  Brothers'  Jesuit  Relations* 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Foxes,  when  first  visited  by  the  traders,  were 
on  a  river  of  Wisconsin  flowing  from  west  to  east 
and  emptying  into  Green  Bay,  to  which  river  the 
French  gave  the  name  that,  translated  into  English, 
became  Fox  river.  Father  Allouez  first  visited 
them  at  their  village,  where  he  established  the  mis 
sion  of  St.  Mark  in  1671.  He  traveled  many  days 
over  ice  and  snow  in  the  severest  part  of  winter  to 
get  there.  Reaching  the  village,  "he  had  no 
sooner  entered  it,"  he  tells  us,  "than  he  went  from 
cabin  to  cabin,  cheering  some  with  the  hope  of  para 
dise  and  frightening  others  with  the  fear  of  hell." 
He  further  says  that  from  these  haughty  natures  he 
was  bound  to  expect  nothing  but  repulse  and  mock 
ery,  with  which  they  at  first  received  the  words  he 
bore  them,  especially  in  certain  cabins  whose  chiefs 
had  as  many  as  eight  wives  and  into  which  he  could 
not  step  without  feeling  that  he  was  walking  into  a 
seraglio.  Nevertheless,  the  father's  perseverance 
won  the  day  and  he  saw  that  these  people  were 
insensibly  softening,  and  that  what  they  at  first 
received  with  mockery,  they  soon  after  received  with 
fear  and  respect.  "I  was  preparing  myself  for 
death,"  he  says,  "meeting  at  first  nothing  but  inso 
lence  and  repulses  from  these  barbarians;  and  lo! 
they  are  listening  to  me  with  attention  and  patience 
beyond  what  I  could  have  expected  even  from  the 
best  disposed  people.  I  enter  all  the  cabins,  making 

107 


io8  LOST    MARAMECH 

the  sick  pray  to  God,  and  baptizing  the  dying. 
A  few  days  after  my  arrival,  while  witnessing  the 
death  of  a  person  upon  whom  I  had  just  con 
ferred  baptism,  what  joy  I  experienced  in  seeing 
a  soul  take  flight  to  heaven  from  so  wanton  a  coun- 
try." 

The  father's  picture  of  the  people,  of  whom  I 
shall  treat,  will  bear  further  scrutiny. 

"I  still  have  reason  to  be  surprised  at  the  looks  of 
endearment  which  I  received  from  most  of  these 
people,  instead  of  the  trouble  that  I  expected,  and 
more  yet  at  the  simplicity  of  a  good  old  man  in 
whose  cabin  I  publicly  explained  the  holy  mystery 
of  the  incarnation  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  As 
soon  as  I  produced  my  crucifix  to  display  before 
these  people,  this  good  man,  at  the  sight  of  it, 
wished  to  acknowledge  it  as  his  god  and  to  wor 
ship  it  by  offering  the  incense  of  this  country;  it 
consisting  of  a  powdered  tobacco,  of  which  he  took 
two  or  three  handfuls  and,  one  by  one,  scattered  it 
over  the  crucifix  and  over  me,  which  is  the  highest 
mark  of  honor  they  can  show  toward  those  they 
regard  as  spirits.  I  could  hardly  restrain  my  tears 
of  joy  at  seeing  the  crucifix  of  Jesus  Christ  wor 
shipped  by  a  savage  the  very  first  time  he  was  told 
about  Him." 

It  does  not  seem,  to  one  reading  these  reports, 
that  this  sentiment  could  have  taken  very  deep  root 
so  quickly.  But  did  it  ever  take  root?  Was  not 
the  introduction  of  so-called  civilization  the  besom 
that  swept  this  tribe  almost  entirely  from  the  face 
of  the  earth?  In  their  wretched  wigwams  in  the 
little  reservation  of  Iowa,  missionaries  still  labor 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  109 

for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  the  decaying  tribe. 
The  good  father  labored  on. 

"A  woman  did  almost  the  same  thing  when,  being 
thoroughly  instructed  and  receiving  baptism,  and  at 
the  point  of  rendering  up  her  soul,  as  she  after 
ward  did,  she  repeatedly  threw  handfuls  of  tobacco 
on  the  crucifix  which  I  offered  her;  her  intention 
being  the  same  as  that  of  those  who  kiss  it 
devotedly." 

The  whole  village  being  fully  imbued  with  the 
mysteries,  by  both  public  and  private  instruction, 
the  father  took  his  departure  after  baptizing  five 
children  and  two  adults,  and  after  receiving  assu 
rance  from  the  elders  that  upon  his  return  he  should 
find  a  chapel  there,  which  they  would  build  them 
selves,  for  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  the  func 
tions  of  Christianity. 

"Thus  those  people  are  being  changed  from 
wolves  into  lambs,  and  little  by  little,  but  with  the 
exercise  of  much  patience,  are  being  won  to  Jesus 
Christ;  and  hence  we  hope  a  Faith  will  spread  to 
many  nations  who  have  intercourse  with  this  one, 
and  to  whom  we  cannot  have  access  without  great 
difficulty. 

"The  Ilimouec  [Illinois]  speak  the  language  of 
the  Algonquins,  but  it  differs  much  from  that  of 
the  other  tribes.  I  understand  them  but  little,  for  I 
have  had  but  little  conversation  with  them.  They 
dwell  in  this  vicinity;  their  country  is  more  than 
sixty  leagues  southward,  beyond  a  large  river  that 
discharges,  as  I  conjecture,  in  the  sea  near  Virginia. 
These  people  are  hunters  and  warriors;  they  use  the 
bow  and  arrow,  rarely  the  gun,  and  never  the  canoe. 


i  io  LOST   MARAMECH 

This  was  a  numerous  nation,  distributed  in  ten  vil 
lages,  but  at  present  reduced  to  two.  The  continual 
wars  with  the  Nadouessi  [Sioux]  on  one  side,  and 
the  Iroquois  on  the  other,  have  nearly  exterminated 
them.  They  recognize  several  spirits  to  whom  they 
offer  sacrifices.  They  practice  a  kind  of  dance, 
peculiar  to  themselves,  that  they  call  the  dance  of 
the  Calumet,  in  the  following  manner:  They  pre 
pare  a  large  pipe  that  they  ornament  with  plumes 
and  put  it  in  the  middle  of  the  place,  handling  it 
with  a  kind  of  veneration;  one  of  the  company 
raises  it,  at  the  same  time  dancing,  and  then  yields 
his  place  to  a  second,  this  one  to  a  third,  and  this 
to  another.  One  would  take  this  dance  as  a  ballet 
in  pantomime  that  is  made  to  rhythm  with  the 
sound  of  a  drum.  He  makes  war,  he  prepares  his 
arms,  runs,  discovers  the  enemy,  retires,  then 
approaches  and  utters  the  whoop,  then  kills  the 
enemy,  takes  his  scalp  and  returns  singing  the  song 
of  victory,*  but  doing  all  this  with  an  unusual 
promptness  and  surprising  activity. 

"After  all  have  danced,  one  after  the  other, 
around  the  pipe,  one  takes  it  and  presents  it  to  the 
most  noted  of  all  the  assembly  to  smoke,  then  to 
another,  and  consecutively  to  all,  wishing  by  this 
ceremony  to  signify  that  which  in  France  is  done 
by  several  drinking  from  the  same  glass.  But 
more:  One  leaves  the  pipe  in  the  hands  of  the 
most  honorable  one  present  as  a  sacred  trust  and  as 

*  This  last  is  very  similar  to  that  practiced  by  most  other 
tribes,  called  "striking  the  post, "and  I  think  that  the  father's 
mind  was  confused  and  hence  he  mingled  two  dances  in  his 
account. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  m 

a  sure  pledge  of  peace  and  union  that  shall  continue 
as  long  as  it  remains  in  the  hands  of  this  person. 

"Among  all  the  spirits  to  whom  they  make  sacri 
fices,  they  honor  One  particularly  that  is  more  prom 
inent  than  the  others  because  it  is  this  One  who  has 
created  all  things.  They  have  such  a  desire  to  see 
this  Spirit  that  they  make  long  fasts,  hoping  by  this 
means  God  will  present  Himself  to  them  during  their 
troubled  sleep;  if  it  happens  that  they  see  Him,  they 
deem  themselves  happy  and  assured  of  a  long  life. 

"All  of  the  nations  of  the  south  have  the  same 
wish  to  see  God,  which  is  without  doubt  a  great 
advantage  for  their  conversion,  for  it  only  remains 
to  instruct  them  in  the  manner  they  should  serve  to 
see  Him  and  be  happy.  I  have  here  published  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ  to  eighty  persons  of  this 
nation,  and  they  have  carried  and  published  it  to  all 
the  country  south,  with  praise,  so  that  I  can  say 
that  at  this  mission,  where  I  have  least  labored,  is 
where  my  labor  has  been  most  effective.  Among 
themselves  they  honor  our  Saviour  in  their  fashion, 
of  whom  they  put  the  image  that  I  have  given  them 
in  a  place  most  honored  when  they  make  some  cele 
brated  feast,  and  the  master  of  the  banquet  addresses 
himself  to  this  image  in  an  honorable  tone.  It  is 
Him  they  honor,  the  Man  God,  to  Him  they  say: 
'We  make  this  feast  for  Thee.  It  is  to  Thee  that 
we  present  these  goods.'  I  avow  it  is  there  where 
appear  the  most  beautiful  fields  for  the  Gospel.  If 
I  had  the  leisure  and  the  accommodations,  I  would 
have  gone  among  them  to  see  with  my  own  eyes  the 
good  that  to  me  has  been  recounted.  I  find  those 
with  whom  I  have  had  to  do  affable  and  humane, 


112  LOST   MARAMECH 

and  it  is  said  that  when  they  encounter  some  stranger 
they  make  a  cry  of  joy,  caress  him,  and  render  to 
him  all  the  proofs  of  friendship  they  can.  I  have 
only  baptized  one  child  of  this  nation.  The  seeds 
of  the  Faith  that  I  have  sown  in  their  souls  will 
bear  fruits  when  the  Master  of  the  vine  wishes  to 
gather  it. 

"Their  country  is  warm,  and  they  sow  Indian 
corn  twice  a  year.*  There  are  rattlesnakes  that 
often  cause  death,  lacking,  as  they  do,  an  antidote. f 
They  hold  medicine  in  high  esteem  and  present 
sacrifices  to  it  as  to  the  Great  Spirit.  They  have  no 
great  forests,  but  very  large  prairies  where  the 
buffalo,  the  deer,  the  bear,  and  other  animals  exist 
in  great  numbers." 

The  father,  in  a  later  voyage  to  Green  Bay,  found 
the  savages  in  their  winterquarters,  which  consisted 
of  a  single  village  of  Sacs,  Pottawatomies,  Foxes, 
and  Winnebagoes,  in  all  six  hundred  people,  more 
or  less.  Farther  on,  along  the  Fox  river  of  Wis 
consin,  were  other  villages  of  the  Foxes,  and  about 
a  day's  journey  farther  still  were  the  Miamis.  He 
had  gained  a  knowledge  of  all  these  people  at  the 
"Mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  on  Lake  Superior. 

He  began  giving  instructions  to  the  Sacs  early  in 
the  year  1671.  Later  he  embarked  for  the  mission 
of  the  Foxes,  and  says:  "These  people  came  in 

*  This  is  a  mistake  that  is  repeated  in  nearly  all  accounts 
left  by  the  French.  That  these  people  raised  an  early  and  a 
late  variety  of  corn,  in  order  that  the  roasting  ears  might  con 
tinue  for  a  long  time,  was  as  true  then  as  it  now  is  with  us. 

f  Few  things  are  now  better  known  than  that  a  certain  plant 
was  used  as  an  antidote  and  believed  to  be  effective. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  113 

flocks  to  see  us;  they  said  they  came  to  see  the 
Manitou  who  was  coming  to  their  country;  they 
accompanied  us  with  respect  as  far  as  the  doors  of  a 
cabin  where  we  were  made  to  enter." 

The  father  then  went  westward  to  the  village  of 
the  Miamis,  and  thence  returned  to  the  Pottawato- 
mies  and  Winnebagoes. 

He  visited  the  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  Green  Bay 
on  the  following  year  and  found  the  natives  highly 
incensed  against  the  French,  who  were  trading  with 
them. 

"They  were  abusing  the  French  and  robbing  them 
of  their  goods,  and  subjecting  them  to  insults  and 
indignities.  The  natives  had  received  ill-treatment 
from  the  French,  whom  they  had  visited  for  purposes 
of  trade,  and  claimed  to  have  suffered  much  from  the 
hands  of  the  soldiers.  In  order  to  avenge  themselves 
these  people  had  chosen  forty  of  their  young  men, 
appointed  a  captain  whom  they  placed  over  them, 
and  thus  formed  a  company  of  soldiers  for  the  pur 
pose  of  treating  the  Frenchmen  who  were  in  the 
region  in  the  same  manner  that  the  soldiers  at  the 
French  settlements  had  treated  them.  A  council 
was  held  with  the  same  formalities  that  they  had 
seen  at  the  settlement  of  the  French.  The  newly- 
made  soldiers  took  it  upon  themselves  to  imitate 
the  ceremonies  that  had  prevailed  among  the 
French,  but  with  the  manner  of  savages.  When  it 
was  time  to  assemble  they  came  to  us  with  muskets 
at  shoulder  arms,  and  hatchets  instead  of  swords  at 
the  belt.  During  the  sitting  of  the  assembly  they 
continued  to  do  mock  sentry  duty  at  the  cabin  door, 
in  as  dignified  a  way  as  they  could,  pacing,  which 


II4  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  savages  never  do,  with  muskets  first  on  one 
shoulder,  then  on  the  other,  striking  astonishing 
attitudes  more  and  more  ridiculous  the  more  they 
tried  to  act  seriously.  The  father  could  hardly 
refrain  from  laughter,  although  treating  of  impor 
tant  matters;  viz.,  the  mysteries  of  religion  and 
what  one  must  do  to  not  burn  eternally  in  hell." 

We  read  much  in  \hzjesuit  Relations  of  the  efforts 
of  the  fathers  to  save  the  souls  of  the  savages,  and 
some  have  told  us  that  when  they  could  not  "win 
them  by  presenting  the  beauties  of  heaven,  they 
frightened  them  by  threats  of  the  torments  of  hell." 
The  old  men  once  called  upon  the  father  and  tried 
to  justify  themselves  concerning  the  disorders  which 
the  young  men  had  been  guilty  of.  As  the  father 
had  reprimanded  them,  they  explained  that  their 
soldiers  had  not  used  the  French  as  badly  as  they 
themselves  had  been  used  at  the  French  settle 
ments;  that  they  had  injured  none,  but  bore  the 
marks  of  broken  arms,  cut  hands,  and  other  wounds 
that  had  been  inflicted  upon  them. 

The  fathers  explain,  in  the  Jesuit  Relations,  their 
methods  of  reaching  the  hearts  of  the  savages. 
Father  Allouez,  for  instance,  reviewed  the  lessons 
he  had  given  them  during  the  spring,  touching  upon 
the  sovereignty  and  unity  of  God  and  the  incarna 
tion  of  His  Son;  enlarged  upon  "some  of  the  truths 
more  sensible  and  touching,  as,  for  example,  of 
paradise  and  hell";  and  in  order  to  give  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  cause  and  to  enter  by  means  of  the 
eyes  far  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  came  to  listen, 
he  showed  them  a  picture  of  the  judgment  and 
took  occasion  to  explain  to  them  some  of  the 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  115 

good  fortunes  of  the  saints  and  the  torments  of  the 
damned. 

The  Jesuit  Relations  are  rich  in  expressions  indi 
cating  the  tender-heartedness  of  the  fathers,  but 
such  illustrations  as  the  above  lead  us  to  believe 
that  that  reputation  was  due  to  the  fact  that  each 
praised  the  other.  Each  lauded  the  other  on  the 
results  of  his  efforts,  and  they  consoled  themselves 
with  having  secured  the  eternal  salvation  of  so  many, 
the  greater  portion  if  not  most  of  whom  were 
children  baptized  at  the  point  of  death.  This 
baptism  in  many  instances  was  performed  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  parents.  The  adults  were 
slow  in  accepting  the  Christian  religion.  They 
could  not  understand  how  it  could  be  that  people  of 
the  Christian  nation,  France,  could  misbehave  to 
the  extent  they  did  and  merit  everlasting  happiness, 
while  they  (savage)  lived  moral  lives.  Deprived  of 
the  knowledge  of  Christ,  because  of  some  wise  pur 
pose  of  the  Creator,  they  could  not  believe  that 
they  needed  the  interposition  of  the  "black  robes" 
to  save  them.  It  still  remains  a  question  with 
many  not  lacking  in  wisdom  which  should  be  man's 
greater  guide — the  natural  or  a  so-called  revealed 
religion.  They  were  ignorant  of  the  latter,  but 
we  are  told  that  in  general  a  day  seldom  passed  with 
an  elderly  Indian,  or  others  who  were  esteemed 
wise  and  good,  in  which  a  blessing  was  not  asked 
or  thanks  returned  to  the  Giver  of  life;  sometimes 
audibly,  but  more  generally  in  the  devotional  lan 
guage  of  the  heart.  (Hunter's  Memoirs?)  We  are 
told  of  an  Indian  with  whom  one  Brainard  talked, 
and  who  asked  "why  I  desired  the  Indian  to  become 


ii6  LOST   MARAMECH 

a  Christian,  seeing  that  the  Christians  were  so  much 
worse;  that  a  Christian  would  lie,  steal,  and  drink 
worse  than  the  Indian?  It  was  they  who  first  taught 
the  Indians  to  be  drunk  and  then  steal  from  one 
another  to  that  degree  that  their  rulers  were  obliged 
to  hang  them  for  it;  but  it  was  not  sufficient  to  deter 
others  from  it,  and  he  supposed  that  if  the  Indians 
should  become  Christians  they  would  then  be  as  bad 
as  these."  (Halkitt,  N.  A.  Indians,  I.,  p.  245.) 

While  at  the  villages  Father  Allouez  learned  of 
the  accessibility  of  the  great  river  that  had  been 
known  to  the  traders  for  many  years.  Through  him 
and  others  the  Governor  received  information  that 
Nicolet,  as  early  as  1634-35,  had  undoubtedly  visited 
it.  (Benj.  Suite,  IV.  H.  Col,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  188, 
Notes  on  Jean  Nicolet.)  La  Salle,  possibly,  had 
journeyed  on  the  great  river  the  year  previous  to 
the  visit  made  by  Joliet  and  Father  Marquette.* 

On  the  same  occasion  Father  Allouez  learned  of 
the  branch  of  the  Miami  tribe  whose  people  were  of 
"the  great  village  of  Maramek."  All  of  the  tribes 
adjacent  to  Green  Bay  were  visited  in  1671  by  Per- 
rot,  who  was  sent  there  as  a  deputy  by  Governor 
Courcelles.  Perrot  was  given  command  of  the 
region  and  had  much  to  do,  in  later  years,  with  all 
the  tribes,  as  we  shall  see,  particularly  the  Pean- 
guichia  branch  of  the  Miamis.  (Shea's  Charlevoix, 
Vol.  III.,  p.  166.)  Father  Charlevoix  tells  us  that 
Perrot  visited  the  Miamis  at  Chicago,  piloted  there 
by  two  Pottawatomies.  Shea,  in  his  translation  of 
Charlevoix's  history,  says,  however,  that  Perrot 

*  See  Ohio  River  on  various  maps  left  by  Joliet,  and  "Recite 
d'un  ami  de  1'Abbe  de  GallineV  (Margry,  Vol.  I,  p.  345). 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  117 

went  no  farther  than  Green  Bay,  which  he  calls  the 
"Bay  of  the  Foxes  and  Miamis."  His  reason  given 
for  saying  this  is  that,  as  he  claims,  the  Miamis 
were  not  then  at  Chicago.  It  is  no  doubt  true, 
nevertheless,  that  one  of  the  many  branches  of  this 
tribe  was  there.  (N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  IX.,  p.  70.) 

The  Foxes  were  one  of  the  tribes  that  most 
resented  aggressions.  They  were  the  only  people 
stirred  by  the  acts  of  Perrot  and  four  holy  fathers 
and  others  who,  in  1671,  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
took  possession  of  their  country  in  the  presence  of 
fourteen  tribes  that  gathered  there.  The  priests 
planted  a  cross,  trusting  that  it  would  produce  the 
fruits  of  Christianity.  Upon  a  cedar  tree,  near  by, 
the  French  deputies  posted  the  arms  of  France, 
shouting  three  times,  in  a  loud  voice,  the  name  of 
the  very  high  and  very  powerful  monarch  Louis 
XIV.,  very  Christian  king  of  France  and  Navarre. 
Thus  they  took  possession  of  the  country  adjacent 
to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  and 
all  the  country,  rivers  and  lakes  tributary  thereto, 
as  far  as  the  sea  to  the  south.  Each  raised  high  a 
tuft  of  grass  and  shouted  "Vive  le  Roi!"  and  all 
shouting  in  unison,  in  French  as  well  as  in  the  lan 
guage  of  the  savages,  declared  the  French  nation  in 
possession  of  this  great  region,  thereby  making  all 
the  nations  subject  to  the  laws  of  that  country. 
The  French  promised  protection  to  the  tribes  from 
invasion  of  their  lands  by  their  enemies,  and  all 
that,  as  reward  for  acquiescence;  but  aside  from 
that  by  Perrot,  little  effort  was  ever  made  by  any 
to  live  up  to  the  promises.  The  tribes  had  had 
some  experience  with  the  French,  and  we  do  not 


ii8  LOST   MARAMECH 

wonder  that  the  Foxes  did  not  trust  them  and  did 
not  take  any  stock  in  the  good  promises  made;  they 
looked  upon  the  good  resolves  as  chaff  in  the  wind. 

Along  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin,  whither  various 
tribes  gathered  in  shelter,  on  the  west  side  of  Lake 
Michigan,  in  order  to  be  less  accessible  to  the 
Iroquois,  were  the  many  villages  visited  by  Father 
Allouez,  before  referred  to.  Charlevoix  speaks  of 
this  visit  as  follows: 

"He  did  not  expect  a  good  reception  as  some  of 
these  Indians  had  been  ill-treated  by  the  Frenchmen 
at  Montreal,  and  the  whole  tribe  had  vowed  ven 
geance.  The  Foxes  were  estimated  at  nearly  one 
thousand  families.  The  Miamis  and  Mascoutins 
resorted  to  every  expedient  to  dissuade  the  mis 
sionary  from  delivering  himself  alone  to  the  fury  of 
a  provoked  tribe,  which,  moreover,  had  never 
appeared  well  disposed  to  harken  to  the  tidings  of 
Christianity;  but  nothing  could  induce  him  to 
change  his  design,  and  God  blessed  his  courage. 
He  preached  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Foxes,  who  admired 
his  resolution  and  his  patience,  and  gradually 
adopted  humane  ideas  toward  him.  He  baptized 
the  dying,  and  especially  the  children;  many,  even 
on  his  departure,  begged  him  to  return  to  see  them 
and  assured  him  that  if  he  would  take  up  his  abode 
with  them  he  would  find  a  cabin  and  a  chapel 
already  erected." 

Charlevoix,  like  those  of  whom  he  writes,  and  to 
whom  he  gives  the  greatest  credit  for  western  dis 
coveries,  was  a  Jesuit,  and  his  glorification  of  the 
zeal  of  Marquette,  the  predecessor  of  Allouez,  is 
only  surpassed  by  the  attempts  to  heap  unearned 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  ng 

laurels  on  the  father.  He  says:  "Father  Mar- 
quette,  on  his  part,  labored  quite  usefully  among 
the  Miamis  at  Chicago."  This  historian  certainly 
departs  from  the  truth;  he  should  have  been  guided, 
as  others  have  been  since,  by  Marquette's  own 
story  which  tells  us  that  his  successes  consisted  in 
baptizing  a  dying  child,  and  that  not  at  Chicago. 
This  holy  duty,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  performed 
at  the  Illinois  town  opposite  the  Rock  on  which 
Fort  St.  Louis  was  later  built,  on  the  first  visit.  On 
his  second  visit  he  was  detained  by  the  severe  win 
ter  of  1674-5  on  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago 
river,  where  he  saw  but  few  people,  and  hence  in 
his  journal  he  did  not  claim  to  have  been  instru 
mental  in  accomplishing  anything  material  in  the 
line  of  religious  duties.  When  spring  approached 
he  proceeded  to  the  Illinois  town,  where  in  1673  he 
had  baptized  the  dying  child,  and  there  called 
together  a  multitude  of  savages.  He  erected  an 
altar  and  explained  to  them  the  mysteries  of  his 
holy  religion.  The  fatal  disease  that  ended  his  life 
had  made  such  progress,  however,  that  his  stay  was 
but  of  a  few  days'  duration. 

The  Miamis,  about  that  time,  were  neighbors  of 
and  friendly  to  the  Illinois,  and  no  doubt  Marquette 
met  some  of  them.  A  large  band  of  the  Miamis 
was  later  found  on  the  St.  Joseph  river,  where,  on 
his  return  from  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  La  Salle  commenced  to  establish 
himself.  (L'Histoirde  V Amerique  Septentrionale  par 
La  Potherie,  II.,  p.  131.) 

Father  Allouez,  if  we  may  trust  the  accounts  of 
his  zeal  as  found  in  the  Jesuit  Relations,  was  indeed 


120  LOST   MARAMECH 

indefatigable.  During  the  year  1672-4  he  labored 
among  the  many  people  adjacent  to  Green  Bay  and 
learned  of  many  tribes  far  to  the  southward.  He 
says:  "Farther  westward  is  the  Mission  of  St. 
Mark,  of  the  Outegamie,  "  and  various  other 
nations,  among  whom  and  still  farther  westward  are 
tribes,  the  unpronounceable  names  of  which  he 
gives.  Among  them  he  mentions  "Marameg," 
and  near  by  the  village  of  the  "Miamis,  whither 
come  the  Illinois,  the  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  Weato- 
nons,  Pepikokias,  Kilatikas,"  etc.*  This  is  a  mix 
ture  of  the  Illinois,  Miamis,  and  other  tribes.  The 
Maramegs  were  a  branch  of  the  Chippewas,  the 
home-region  of  which  tribe  was  around  the  Falls  of 
St.  Mary  and  that  portion  of  Michigan  just  south  of 
Lake  Superior.  They  must  not  be  confused  with 
the  Miamis  of  "Maramek."  (N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  IX., 
P- 


*  The  father  erred  in  this,  for  all  the  tribes  mentioned  were 
near  the  Illinois  river. 


Hundreds  of  arrow  heads  turned  up  by  the  plow,  a 

mile  northeast  of  the  old  fort,  tell  where 

the  last  stand  was  made. 


The  cemetery,  Tama  Reservation.    The 
graves  are  covered  by  logs  to  pro 
tect  those  who  there  sleep 
from   the   wolves  and 
curious  white  men. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

It  was  during  1672-3  the  Jesuits  again  labored  at 
the  Mission  of  St.  Mark  of  the  Outagamies  (Foxes). 
Father  Allouez  there  baptized  forty-eight  persons, 
three  of  whom  died  shortly  after.  Some  of  the 
Foxes  having  been  compelled  to  remain  in  their 
village,  on  account  of  sickness,  the  father  and  his 
party  went  to  see  them  on  their  way  up  the  river. 
The  party  found,  at  a  little  distance  from  the  town 
opposite  a  small  rapid,  a  great  rock  roughly  carved 
into  the  figure  of  a  man,  the  face  of  which  had  been 
painted  red.  It  was  pronounced  an  idol,  because  of 
the  fact  that  the  Indians  invoked  it  for  fortunate 
results  of  their  voyages.  It  is  probable  that  the 
father  as  little  understood  the  meaning  of  this  piece 
of  rock  and  the  alleged  worship  of  it  as  did  the 
Indians  understand  him  when  they  looked  upon  the 
two  bars  of  wood  crossing  each  other,  coupled  with 
the  worship  of  the  father.  That  seemed  to  them, 
no  doubt,  ridiculous  mummery  over  an  idol  in 
another  form.  The  father  wrote,  "We  overturned 
it  into  the  water."  He  soon  reached  the  cross  that 
had  been  planted  in  the  village  during  the  previous 
winter,  and  went  to  say  holy  mass  in  the  bark  cabin 
in  the  fort.  A  little  farther  on,  led  by  smoke  in  the 
woods,  they  found  the  village  of  the  Foxes.  The 
party  claims  to  have  been  heartily  received  by 
the  sick,  when  the  latter  learned  the  object  of  their 
arrival,  which  was  only  to  comfort  them  and  noth- 

121 


122  LOST   MARAMECH 

ing  more;  "for,"  adds  the  father,  "I  would  not 
allow  the  French  with  me  to  buy  corn  or  anything 
else."  Several  of  the  sick  the  father  had  baptized 
the  previous  winter  had  died,  and  two  more  lingered 
near  death.  He  prepared  them  for  their  long  jour 
ney  and  noticed  that  one  of  them,  named  Joseph,  a 
Fox  chief,  in  his  prayers  always  asked  for  the  pres 
ent  life.  The  father  spoke  to  him  of  the  life  of 
heaven.  The  chief  told  the  father  that  he  did  not 
think  of  death,  as  he  was  not  yet  very  old,  and 
that  he  asked  God  for  the  life  of  the  body.  The 
father  labored  two  hours  before  he  could  bring  the 
chief  to  a  Christian  resignation  to  the  will  of  God. 
The  chief  was  touched  by  the  story  of  the  cross, 
when  the  father  told  him  of  the  agony  of  Christ  and 
of  the  prayer  he  offered  in  the  Garden  of  Olives. 
The  chief  yielded  then,  and  in  spite  of  his  long 
sufferings,  the  father  thought  he  saw  a  change  in 
him,  for  the  chief  took  the  crucifix  and  said  his 
prayers  like  that  of  our  Lord,  with  perfect  submis 
sion  and  Christian  indifference  to  life  or  death. 
When  confessing  a  good  woman,  the  father  asked 
her  whether  she  did  not  sometimes  get  angry. 
"How  can  I  get  angry?"  she  replied;  "I,  who  am 
no  longer  counted  among  the  living,  and  only  a 
dead  body."  Children  were  brought  to  the  father 
to  be  baptized.  A  young  warrior  had  received  an 
arrow-shot  in  the  thigh.  The  stone  arrowhead  had 
remained  in  the  flesh,  producing  a  bad  ulcer,  which 
had  reduced  him  to  a  mere  skeleton.  The  father 
baptized  him  and  named  him  Mark.  It  does  not 
seem  to  some  that  a  heathen  can  be  so  quickly  pre 
pared,  and  that  a  drop  of  water,  mumbled  words, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  123 

and  a  Christian  name  can  have  the  effect  of  insuring 
him  eternal  happiness  that  was  before  denied  him. 

Chas.  W.  Colby  says:  "No  one  can  read  i\\e.  Jesuit 
Relations  and  believe  that  the  zeal  of  the  fathers  did 
not  lead  them  to  overstate  their  successes."  (Amer. 
Historical  Review ',  Oct.,  1901.) 

Father  Allouez  administered  the  sacrament  of 
extreme  unction  to  some  of  the  dying,  but  could 
not  remain  in  the  village,  as  the  people  were  break 
ing  camp  to  go  beaver  hunting.  Later  in  the  winter 
of  1673,  having  learned  that  the  Foxes  had  returned 
from  their  hunt  earlier  than  usual,  on  account  of  a 
Sac  having  killed  one  of  the  Foxes  during  the  hunt, 
the  father  again  went  to  the  village.  The  Heavenly 
Spirit,  claimed  to  have  been  instilled,  did  not 
remain  with  these  people.  The  Foxes  who  had 
just  returned  from  an  embassy  to  the  Iroquois,  had 
received  a  bad  impression  regarding  the  Christians, 
and  had  communicated  that  impression  to  their 
people.  Added  to  this,  the  Sioux  had  killed  thirty 
persons,  most  of  whom  had  prayed  to  God  before 
going  to  war.  Because  of  the  impression  the 
father  found  no  encouragement  and  was  obliged  to 
seek  shelter  from  the  elements  unaided,  as  best  he 
could.  He  inveighed  the  Lord  against  the  super 
stition,  the  extraordinary  license  of  having  many 
wives,  and  against  exposing  themselves  naked.  The 
young  men  treated  him  insolently,  but  they  never 
contradicted  him,  even  in  their  cabins  and  assem 
blies;  such  silence  was  the  result  of  good  breeding — 
little  practiced  among  civilized  nations.  The  father 
declared  the  chief  to  be  infamous  because  of  his 
number  of  wives  and  because  he  would  not  listen 


124  LOST   MARAMECH 

when  spoken  to  in  regard  to  his  salvation.  Later 
the  chief  came  to  the  father  with  his  youngest  wife 
and  son,  to  pray,  and  he  listened  willingly  when 
exhorted  to  be  satisfied  with  one  wife  and  not  seek 
others.  A  band  of  young  men  blackened  their 
faces,  entered  the  cabin  of  the  father  in  the  even 
ing  and  said  that  they  had  come  to  sleep  there  so 
that  God  might  speak  to  them  in  their  dreams  and 
promise  to  deliver  their  enemies  to  them.  The 
father  says,  regarding  this  visit:  "I  undeceived 
them  and  made  them  pray  to  God,  and  they  went 
home  quickly."  A  hundred  warriors  passed  by  the 
chapel  door,  only  one  entering,  and  he  one  of  those 
baptized  only  a  few  days  before.  The  father  asked 
those  who  favored  prayer  why  they  did  not  enter, 
and  they  replied  that  prayer  had  caused  them  to 
die  during  the  previous  summer. 

The  father  said,  in  his  report:  "God  wills  that 
this  church  be  tried  by  tribulations."  He  had 
grounds  for  hope,  however,  for  during  the  previous 
winter  a  band  of  young  Foxes  defeated  eleven  ca 
noes  of  Sioux  and  attributed  their  victory  to  prayer, 
for  all  had  prayed  before  starting.  Their  account 
of  the  aid  that  God  had  given  them  induced  others 
to  pray.  They  had  done  so  the  previous  summer, 
the  father  later  informs  us,  and  marked  a  cross  on 
their  shields;  but  of  the  nineteen,  sixteen  were  cap 
tured  or  killed,  while  out  of  another  band  of  thirteen, 
three  were  captured  or  killed.  "This  does  not  dis 
courage,"  he  continues,  "nor  will  it  ever  prevent 
some  of  the  people  from  coming  to  receive  instruc 
tions."  On  one  occasion  the  Elders  entered  the 
cabin,  and  of  them  the  father  speaks  as  follows: 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  125 

"They  have  some  ideas  that  excite  compassion; 
time  and  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  tame 
these  spirits  truly  savage.  Softness,  such  as  the 
mercies  of  God,  and  the  reward  of  paradise  are 
necessary  to  change  these  spirits,  for  some  seem  to 
be  barbarous  to  the  last  degree.  They  seem  to  be 
resolved  to  either  be  burned  and  eaten  by  their 
enemies,  or  to  burn  and  eat  their  enemies.  Their 
enemies,  after  burning  them,  cut  them  in  pieces,  as 
we  do  animals  or  fish,  and  cook  them." 

The  opportunity  to  eat  the  flesh  of  a  brave  enemy 
was  eagerly  sought;  the  belief  being  that  the  par 
taking  of  it  inspired  bravery.  While  the  father  was 
at  the  village  some  Sacs,  who  came  from  Green 
Bay,  caused  a  coldness  among  the  neophytes  by 
telling  them  that  only  children  prayed  to  God. 
Others  said:  "How  can  we  pray  to  God?  He  does 
not  love  us;  He  loves  our  enemies,  for  He  always 
delivers  us  into  their  hands,  and  seldom  delivers 
any  of  them  into  ours." 

A  small  party  was  going  to  war,  and  the  old  men 
entered  the  cabin  and  put  several  questions  to  the 
father.  God  gave  the  father  grace  to  be  able  to 
reply,  and  they  admitted  that  they  had  been  de 
ceived  and  that  he  spoke  the  truth.  They  acknowl 
edged  that  war  was  largely  governed  by  fate;  they 
did  not  attribute  defeat  either  to  the  strength  or  the 
bravery  of  their  enemies  or  to  the  lack  of  strategy 
on  the  part  of  their  own  captains,  but  to  fate,  or  to 
the  Great  Spirit  who  gave  one  tribe  to  be  eaten  by 
another  when  it  pleased  Him.  They  fasted  in  order 
that  the  Great  Spirit  might  speak  to  them,  hoping 
that  He  would  say:  "I  will  give  you  some  of  your 


126  LOST   MARAMECH 

enemies  to  eat;  go  and  seek  them."  They  declared 
that  one  of  the  chiefs  would  certainly  kill  some  of 
their  enemies,  because  the  Manitou  always  spoke  to 
him. 

The  father  tells  us  that  he  disabused  the  minds  of 
the  savages;  but  his  labors  were  interrupted  by  a 
cold  spell  which  crusted  the  snow  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  hunting  of  the  deer  and  elk  became  easy, 
and  hence  the  young  men  took  to  the  woods,  fol 
lowed  by  the  young  women,  who  dressed  the  ani 
mals  and  took  the  skins  and  flesh  to  the  village. 
The  Foxes  ofttimes  made  preparations  for  the  hunt 
by  a  long  fast,  sometimes  protracted  to  even  ten 
days.  They  did  much  more,  for  while  the  men 
were  on  the  hunt,  the  children  were  obliged  to  fast 
in  order  that  they  might  dream  of  the  bear  which 
their  relatives  were  seeking,  and  they  imagined 
that  the  animals  would  be  caught  if  seen  in  a  dream 
even  by  these  children. 

The  father  exultingly  claimed  to  have  taken  pos 
session  of  the  infidel  land  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  by  erecting  a  cross  within  the  realm  of  Satan. 
Hardly  a  person  was  seen  in  the  village  who  did 
not  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  deference. 
"They  even  have  such  confidence  in  it,"  he  tells  us, 
"that  some  of  the  young  warriors,  having  formed  a 
company  to  wage  war  on  the  Sioux,  appeared  before 
him  to  learn  how  they  could  insure  a  victory.  He 
related  to  them  the  story  of  Constantine,  to  encour 
age  them  by  that  example,  to  have  recourse  to  the 
cross.  They  believed,  for  with  their  own  hands 
they  marked  their  shields  with  this  adorable  sign; 
every  morning  and  evening  they  made  it  on  them- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  127 

selves  without  fail;  and  on  meeting  the  enemy,  the 
first  thing  they  did  was  to  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  after  which  they  gave  battle  so  confidently 
that  they  won  the  victory  and,  upon  returning 
home,  they  celebrated  the  power  of  the  cross,  pro 
claiming  everywhere  that  they  were  solely  indebted 
to  it  for  their  success." 

There  is  a  strange  mixture  of  sentiment  and 
prophecy  regarding  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  "Our  Holy  Faith,"  the  father  tells  us  in 
the  Relations,  "is  more  and  more  gaining  a  foothold 
among  these  people,  and  we  have  great  hopes  that 
in  a  short  time  we  will  carry  it  as  far  as  the  famous 
river  named  Mississippi,  and  perhaps  even  to  the 
South  Sea,  that  the  Gospel  may  extend  as  far  south 
ward  as  we  are  about  to  see  it  has  northward." 

This  was  in  1672,  a  year  before  the  alleged  dis 
covery  of  the  Mississippi  river  by  Marquette,  and 
the  fact  that  it  was  believed  to  enter  the  South  Sea 
late  historians  have  shown  very  plainly,  as  seen  in 
the  preceding  pages.  The  belief  that  it  entered  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  was  founded  not  only  upon  its  gen 
eral  course,  as  far  as  then  known,  but  also  upon  the 
fact  that  the  Spanish  maps  of  an  early  date  showed 
a  great  river  entering  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  at  a  point 
not  far  from  the  actual  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  that  De  Soto  had  discovered  it.  La  Salle's  dis 
covery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  was,  more  than 
all,  that  of  the  commercial  and  strategic  value  of 
the  great  river,  and  not  merely  one  of  geographical 
location. 

The  eagerness  of  the  Jesuit  order  to  claim  for  its 
priests  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  river  was 


128  LOST   MARAMECH 

illustrated  by  Thevenot  in  a  small  book  published 
under  date  of  1681,  which  contains  a  map,  stated  by 
him  to  be  a  copy  of  that  of  Marquette.  It  is  seen 
that  the  Mississippi  river  flows  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  that  adjacent  to  the  gulf  is  placed  the 
word  "Europeans."  The  river  is  shown  as  flowing 
nearly  southward  from  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas 
river  to  the  gulf.  Marquette  supposed  that  the  river 
so  flowed,  but  on  his  genuine  map  of  the  river  it  is 
now  shown  below  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  In 
Joliet's  map,  however,  it  is  shown,  as  may  be  seen, 
emptying  into  the  gulf.  Thevenot  must  have  bor 
rowed  more  from  Joliet  than  from  Marquette, 
although  he  claims  to  have  followed  the  latter. 
Another  copy  of  the  alleged  Marquette  map  is  in 
the  Lenox  Library,  and  on  it  is  the  following: 
"Map  of  the  new  discoveries  that  the  Reverend 
Fathers  Jesuits  have  made  in  the  year  of  1672,  con 
tinued  by  the  Reverend  Father  Jacques  Marquette, 
accompanied  by  some  French  in  the  year  1673," 
etc.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  name  of  Joliet,  who 
was  the  head  and  front  of  the  expedition,  is  unmen- 
tioned.  Comparing  the  Thevenot  map  with  Mar- 
quette's  and  Joliet's,  it  is  seen  that  the  resemblance 
is  closer  to  that  of  Joliet  than  to  Marquette's. 
Marquette  learned  nothing  further  of  the  Missis 
sippi  on  the  voyage  he  made  to  the  Illinois  country 
in  1674,  for  he  went  by  the  return  route  of  the 
former  voyage,  and  no  farther  southward  than  the 
Illinois  town  near  Starved  Rock.  He  died  six  years 
before  the  publication  of  Thevenot's  book  and  of 
the  map  in  the  Lenox  Library.  Again,  comparing 
closely  the  map  copied  in  Thevenot's  book  with  that 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


129 


left  by  Joliet,  it  is  found  that  the  names  of  towns 
and  the  general  courses  of  rivers  correspond  very 
nearly  with  Joliet's.  His  map  is  more  correct  than 
that  left  by  Marquette,  although  it  was  drawn  from 
memory;  he  having  lost  his  original  ones  when 
shipwrecked  in  the  St.  Lawrence.  If  Marquette, 
before  his  death,  had  time  to  draw  the  Thevenot 
map,  he  must  have  done  so  with  the  Joliet  map,  and 
perhaps  others,  before  him.  The  data  for  Mar- 
quette's  original  map,  as  has  been  shown,  was 
mostly  gathered  before  undertaking  the  journey. 
But  the  map  given  by  Thevenot  shows  features  not 
known  until  long  after  Marquette's  death. 

The  Mission  of  St.  Mark  did  not  long  hold  its 
own.  Father  Allouez  visited  the  nation  in  1676, 
and  tells  us:  "As  for  the  Mission  of  the  Outa- 
gamie,  where  last  year  we  planted  a  large  cross  in 
the  middle  of  their  village,  we  hoped  a  great  deal 
from  their  conversion,  since  we  see  that  our  Lord  has 
made  them  share  His  cross.  Last  winter  many  of 
them  were  killed  by  the  Sioux.  The  summer  fol 
lowing  their  corn  was  injured  by  the  frosts  and  they 
gathered  but  little,  and  that  little  spoiled  in  the 
autumn  in  the  places  where  stored.  During  the  past 
winter  many  died  from  disease,  and  the  Illinois 
committed  acts  of  hostility  upon  them  and  captured 
many.  During  some  visits  I  made  I  baptized  seven 
teen,  among  whom  were  ten  adults  who  died  after 
baptism.  Of  the  old  Christians  who  numbered  one 
hundred  and  forty-four,  twenty-seven  died,  upon 
whom  we  had  reason  to  believe  God  had  mercy. 
The  Puants  and  the  Sacs,  who  have  stopped  here  in 
our  church  during  all  Lent,  came  assiduously  to 


I3o  LOST   MARAMECH 

listen  to  our  instructions  and  pray  to  God.  We 
have  baptized  seven  children." 

To  Green  Bay  came  the  Sioux  when  they  dared. 
The  lowas,  the  Illinois,  Miamis,  and  many  others 
also  came  to  trade  among  themselves  and  with  the 
French.  Pipes  from  Minnesota  are  found  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  which  is  one  of  the  indelible 
records  of  the  fact  that  trade  was  carried  on  over 
long  distances.  This  stone,  catlinite  of  modern 
geology,  is  found  only  in  Pipestone  county,  Minne 
sota,  and  is  an  argillaceous  shale  of  a  beautiful  pink 
color  and  takes  a  fine  polish.  The  pipes  have  been 
picked  up  in  nearly  every  state  of  the  Union;  a  fine 
little  specimen  found  its  way  to  Maramech. 

The  honesty  of  the  various  tribes,  including  the 
Foxes  before  being  contaminated  by  the  whites,  was 
proverbial,  but  it  did  not  last.  Whether  the  teach 
ing  of  the  fathers,  who  themselves  found  it  neces 
sary  to  preach  honesty  to  the  French  traders,  led 
the  natives  to  know  that  dishonesty  was  practiced 
by  the  foreigners,  we  do  not  know.  We  do  know, 
however,  that  they  soon  lost  their  regard  for  the 
rights  of  others. 

La  Salle,  in  the  autumn  of  1679,  stopped  at  Green 
Bay,  added  to  his  supplies  and  turned  his  canoes 
southward  along  the  western  coast  of  Lake  Michi 
gan.  Late  in  October  adverse  winds  compelled  him 
to  land.  He  went,  as  usual,  into  the  woods  to  see 
what  he  might  discover,  where  he  found  "grapes 
ripe  and  very  good,"  of  which  the  Recollet  Fathers 
made  wine  with  which  to  celebrate  mass.  He  also 
observed  fresh  foot-prints,  which  prompted  him  to 
rejoin  his  people  to  command  them  to  be  on  their 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  131 

guard  and  make  no  noise.  They  obeyed  him  for 
some  time  but  having  perceived  a  bear  and  a  deer 
they  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  shooting  at 
them.  This  noise  made  them  known  to  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-five  Foxes  whose  home  was  near 
the  extremity  of  Green  Bay,  but  who  were  then 
camping  near  the  Frenchmen  without  any  knowl 
edge  of  such  neighbors.  La  Salle,  to  whom  the 
presence  of  these  people  gave  much  anxiety,  blamed 
his  men  for  their  imprudence  and,  to  prevent  sur 
prises,  he  put  a  sentinel  near  the  canoes  under  which 
his  companions  had  put  their  cargoes  to  protect 
them  from  the  rain.  He  put  another  guard  near 
their  campfires.  These  precautions  were  not  suffi 
cient  to  prevent  thirty  Foxes,  favored  by  the 
abundant  rain  and  the  negligence  of  the  sentinel, 
from  creeping  along  the  shore  where  were  the  arms 
and  supplies.  Lying  flat  they  arranged  themselves 
in  a  line,  and  the  first  one  taking  what  he  wished 
passed  it  on  to  the  nearest,  and  thus  it  went  from 
hand  to  hand  to  the  last  one.  La  Salle  awoke  and, 
having  raised  himself  to  see  if  his  sentinel  was 
doing  his  duty,  saw  something  move,  which 
prompted  him  to  require  his  men  to  take  their  arms 
and  occupy  an  eminence  near  which  the  Foxes  were 
obliged  to  pass.  A  part  of  these  savages,  seeing 
themselves  discovered,  called  out  that  they  were 
friends.  La  Salle  responded  that  the  hour  was  one 
at  which  people  came  only  to  steal  or  kill  those  who 
were  not  on  their  guard.  They  replied  that  in  truth 
the  gunshots  that  they  had  heard  made  them  believe 
that  a  party  of  the  hostile  Iroquois  was  near;  this 
they  said  they  believed  because  the  neighboring 


132 


LOST   MARAMECH 


savages  did  not  use  firearms;  that  they  had  advanced 
thus  with  the  intention  of  killing  these  supposed 
enemies,  but  having  recognized  Frenchmen,  whom 
they  regarded  as  brothers,  their  impatience  held 
them  from  waiting  for  daylight.  La  Salle  feigned 
to  accept  this  reason  and  bade  them  approach  to 
the  number  of  five  or  six  only,  because  their  young 
men  were  accustomed  to  steal,  and  his  people  were 
not  in  the  humor  to  suffer  anything  of  this  kind. 
Four  or  five  men  advanced  and  remained  until  the 
approach  of  day,  when  he  gave  them  permission  to 
retire.  After  their  departure,  he  perceived  what 
had  been  stolen.  He  knew  perfectly  the  humor  of 
the  savages,  and  he  knew  that  they  would  undertake 
to  do  the  same  every  night  if  he  dissimulated  in  this 
case.  He  caused  his  people  to  occupy  an  eminence 
that  was  in  the  form  of  a  peninsula,  and  he  then 
went  out  in  search  of  some  savage  who  had  strayed 
from  the  others.  He  had  scarcely  been  gone  a  half 
hour  before  he  found  the  fresh  tracks  of  a  hunter. 
He  followed  him,  pistol  in  hand,  and  having  imme 
diately  overtaken  him,  brought  him  to  the  place 
where  he  had  left  the  guard.  After  having  informed 
him  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  theft,  he  imme 
diately  went  with  two  of  his  people  and  halted 
another  savage,  evidently  a  more  important  person 
age.  He  pointed  out  to  him,  in  the  distance,  the 
one  he  had  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  him  to  say  to 
his  people  that  he  would  kill  their  comrade  if  they 
did  not  bring  back  all  that  had  been  stolen.  This 
proposition  embarrassed  the  savages,  because  they 
had  cut  some  of  the  clothing  to  pieces  to  divide 
among  them,  and  consequently  were  not  able  to 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  133 

return  it  entire.  As  these  people  have  much  friend 
ship  for  each  other,  they  resolved  to  take  their  com 
rade  by  force.  The  next  morning  they  advanced, 
arms  in  hand,  to  begin  the  attack.  The  peninsula 
where  the  French  were  was  separated  the  distance 
of  a  gunshot  from  the  woods  where  the  savages 
appeared.  La  Salle  noticed  that,  on  the  side  of  the 
woods,  there  were  several  little  knolls,  the  nearest 
one  to  him  commanding  the  others.  He  advanced 
to  occupy  it  with  five  men.  Carrying  their  blan 
kets,  one-half  wrapped  around  their  left  arms  to 
cover  themselves  against  the  arrows  of  the  savages, 
they  advanced;  they  had  already  occupied  all  of 
these  eminences,  but  seeing  that  the  French  ap 
proached  to  charge  them,  they  abandoned  the  near 
est  one,  which  gave  La  Salle  time  to  mount  the 
highest  point.  An  act  so  daring  intimidated  the 
savages  to  such  an  extent  that,  immediately  after, 
six  of  the  old  men  approached,  presenting  the  calu 
met  of  peace,  and  having  come  near,  on  the  assu 
rance  that  they  could  do  so  without  fear,  they  said 
that  they  were  carried  to  this  extremity  only  because 
of  their  inability  to  return  what  had  been  taken  in 
the  condition  that  it  was  when  taken,  and  that  they 
were  ready  to  restore  all  that  remained  in  good  con 
dition.  They  presented,  at  the  same  time,  robes  of 
beaver  skins  to  La  Salle  to  conciliate  him,  excusing 
themselves  as  best  they  could  for  the  little  value  of 
their  presents.  La  Salle  contented  himself  with 
their  apology,  listened  to  their  promises  and  par 
doned  them.  The  day  following  was  passed  in 
dancing  and  feasts  in  which  they  begged  La  Salle  to 
remain  with  them  and  not  try  to  go  to  the  Illinois, 


134  LOST   MARAMECH 

which  would  be  impossible,  for  the  Illinois  were 
resolved  to  massacre  all  the  Frenchmen  because  an 
Iroquois,  whom  they  had  taken  and  burned,  had 
assured  them  that  the  war  made  on  them  by  his 
nation  had  been  counselled  by  the  French  who  hated 
the  Illinois.  They  added  many  similar  reasons 
which  alarmed  La  Salle's  party,  and  he  felt  much 
uneasiness  because  of  the  fact  that  all  savages  he 
had  encountered  on  his  route  had  said  very  nearly 
the  same  thing.  He  knew  this  objection  was  inspired 
by  those  who  opposed  his  enterprise  and  made 
plausible  by  the  expressed  fears  of  the  savages  to 
whom  the  Illinois  were  renowned  for  their  valor, 
and  who  feared  that  the  Illinois  would  become  still 
more  haughty  by  receiving,  through  the  French,  a 
knowledge  of  the  use  of  firearms.  He  resolved, 
however,  to  continue  his  route  and  take  all  the  pre 
cautions  necessary  for  the  protection  of  himself  and 
party.  He  thanked  the  Foxes  for  the  advice  they 
had  given,  but  said  that  he  did  not  fear  the  Illinois 
and  that  he  felt  his  ability  to  dispose  of  them  by 
friendship  or  by  force.  La  Salle  and  his  party 
departed  the  next  day  for  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Joseph  river,  and  were  no  more  troubled  by  the 
Foxes.  He  established  peace  among  the  various 
tribes  of  the  region  forming  his  "Colonie. "  (Margry, 
Vol.  I.) 

In  1680  a  band  of  Illinois  and  Miamis,  possibly 
those  of  Maramech,  who  were  hunting  on  the  St. 
Joseph  river,  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  Iroquois, 
who  surprised  them,  killed  thirty  or  forty  and  made 
three  hundred  prisoners,  composed  of  women  and 
children.  (La  Hontan,  L,  169.)  I  believe  that 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  135 

this  is  one  version  of  the  attack  upon  the  great 
Indian  town  of  Kaskaskia,  opposite  what  is  now 
called  Starved  Rock,  or  that  at  least  in  it  two 
accounts  are  mixed.  After  the  Iroquois  had  rested 
they  separated  and  started  on  a  leisurely  return  to 
their  country,  believing  that  they  would  regain  their 
villages  before  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  had  time  to 
send  runners  to  their  people,  then  dispersed  in 
various  distant  places.  The  fact  that  the  Illinois 
and  Miamis  were  away  from  home  is  made  evident 
by  the  further  fact  that  the  attacked  were  a  party  of 
hunters,  and  it  is  probable  also  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  two  tribes  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Kas 
kaskia  and  along  the  Fox  river  of  Illinois,  as  far 
north  as  Maramech,  or  farther.  The  Pestekouy,  as 
already  shown,  was  the  home  of  the  branches  of  the 
Miami  tribes. 

La  Hontan  evidently  received  this  story  through 
the  French  or  Indians,  which  accounts  for  the  varia 
tion  from  Tonty's  official  report  of  what  may  have 
been  the  same  encounter.  The  Iroquois  deceived 
themselves,  we  are  told,  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
Illinois  and  Miamis  had  time  to  rally  to  the  number 
of  four  hundred,  resolved  to  die  sooner  than  permit 
their  people  to  be  taken  away.  As  the  parties  were 
unequal,  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  made  an  effort  to 
find  some  good  expedient  and,  after  having  well 
considered  the  manner  of  attack,  they  concluded  to 
follow  the  Iroquois  until  rain  might  fall.  Their 
project  succeeded,  as  the  heavens  seemed  to  favor 
them.  For  a  day  the  rain  continued  from  morning 
until  night.  They  doubled  their  pace  as  soon  as 
the  rain  began  to  fall,  and  passing  two  leagues  to 


136  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  side  of  the  Iroquois,  took  a  position  before  the 
latter  and  formed  an  ambuscade  in  the  middle  of 
a  prairie  that  the  Iroquois  must  cross  to  gain  the 
woods  where  they  intended  to  make  their  camp. 
The  Illinois  and  Miamis  lying  flat  on  the  ground,  in 
the  bushes  and  ferns,  awaited  the  Iroquois.  When 
the  latter  were  between  them  they  let  fly  their 
arrows  and  attacked  so  vigorously  that  the 
Iroquois,  not  being  able  to  use  their  guns,  on 
account  of  the  priming  being  wet,  were  forced  to 
throw  them  away  and  defend  themselves  as  best 
they  might,  resorting  to  the  same  kind  of  arms  as 
those  used  by  the  attacking  party.  The  Illinois 
were  more  agile  than  the  Iroquois,  and  the  latter 
were  obliged  to  yield,  fighting  until  darkness,  after 
having  lost  eighty  of  their  warriors.  The  battle 
would  have  continued  into  the  night  if  the  Illinois 
and  Miamis  had  not  feared  that  their  rescued  prison 
ers,  being  tied  and  remaining  behind  them,  were 
exposed  to  surprise  in  the  darkness,  so,  after  having 
rejoined  them  and  taken  all  the  guns  of  the  flying 
Iroquois,  thrown  hither  and  thither,  they  returned 
to  their  country  without  endeavoring  to  capture  the 
invaders. 

The  above  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  method  of 
warfare  that  was  carried  on  between  the  eastern  and 
western  tribes.  La  Hontan,  in  the  same  volume 
(page  169),  gives  an  instance  of  the  strategy  and 
bravery  that  distinguished  the  Foxes.  In  1683  ne 
was  preparing  for  his  voyage  of  discovery  up  the 
"Riviere  Longue, "  which  river,  by  the  way,  evi 
dently  had  its  source,  its  mouth,  and  all  its  length 
only  in  his  brain.  The  Fox  chiefs  gave  him  guides. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  137 

The  story  of  the  following  encounter  may  be  as 
imaginary  as  his  alleged  discoveries  along  this 
"Riviere  Longue. "  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  story 
runs  that  a  body  of  one  thousand  Iroquois  came  by 
canoes,  at  the  close  of  autumn,  as  far  as  the  Bay  of 
Missisagues  on  Lake  Huron,  without  being  discov 
ered,  and  there  landed.  As  they  were  so  numerous, 
they  carried  with  them  nets  by  means  of  which  they 
expected  to  catch  fish  in  the  little  lakes  and  rivers 
while  awaiting  the  approach  of  a  freeze-up,  which 
occurred  soon  after.  As  soon  as  the  ice  was  suffi 
ciently  strong  they  continued  their  route,  coasting 
Lake  Huron  five  or  six  leagues  to  the  south  of  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  to  which  place  they  dared  not  go,  fear 
ing  to  find  coureurs  du  bois  in  the  fort  of  the  Jesuits. 
Having  traversed  The  Bay  they  judged  proper  to 
march  single  file,  one  in  the  footsteps  of  another,  in 
order  that,  if  their  tracks  were  discovered,  it  should 
appear  that  only  thirty  or  forty  had  passed  at  most. 
They  marched  in  this  manner  until  about  the  mid 
dle  of  February  without  being  perceived,  but  unfor 
tunately  for  them  four  Sauteurs  (people  of  the  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  a  branch  of  the  Chippewa  tribe),  having 
seen  them  pass  in  great  numbers  over  a  little  lake, 
ran  to  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  Foxes  to  inform 
them  of  the  danger,  although  their  own  tribes  were 
at  war  with  the  Foxes.  They  bore  no  love  for  the 
Foxes  and  would  have  profited  by  their  defeat  but 
for  the  fact  that  success  of  the  Iroquois  over  the 
smaller  tribes  would,  in  the  end,  mean  their  own 
defeat  by  the  conquering  tribe. 

About  this  time  a  thaw  interfered  with  the  inten 
tions  of  the  Iroquois,  who  yet  counted  on  fifteen 


138  LOST    MARAMECH 

days  of  cold  weather  as  was  ordinarily  the  case  dur 
ing  that  part  of  the  winter.  They  quickened  their 
pace,  sought  the  straight  paths  and  those  less  fre 
quented.  The  Foxes  were  much  embarrassed  as  to 
the  course  they  should  pursue.  It  was  true  that  the 
warriors  would  be  able  to  gain  their  village  in  all 
safety,  but  to  do  so  they  would  have  been  forced  to 
abandon  their  women  and  children,  who  had  not 
the  strength  to  run  as  fast  as  the  men.  Finally, 
after  having  held  council,  they  resolved  to  advance 
as  far  as  a  certain  passage,  a  half  league  in  length 
(about  one  and  two-tenths  miles),  and  of  thirty  paces 
breadth,  between  two  little  lakes,  where  they  fore 
saw  that  the  Iroquois  were  likely  to  pass.  The 
Foxes  numbered  four  hundred,  and  judged  proper  to 
divide  themselves  into  two  bodies,  one  party  of  two 
hundred  holding  one  end  of  the  passage,  which  they 
fortified  immediately  by  planting  posts  across  from 
one  lake  to  the  other,  and  the  other  two  hundred 
remained  within  a  fourth  of  a  league  of  the  other 
end  of  the  passage  in  order  that,  after  having  pre 
pared  poles,  they  could  run  quickly  and  fortify 
themselves.  As  soon  as  the  Foxes  discovered  that 
the  Iroquois  had  all  passed  they  ran  with  all  speed, 
carrying  heavy  poles  to  enclose  the  little  strip  of 
land  bordered  by  the  two  lakes.  They  had  suffi 
cient  time  to  plant  the  poles  and  support  them  by 
throwing  up  earth,  before  the  Iroquois,  astonished  at 
having  found  the  road  closed  at  the  other  end,  had 
retraced  their  steps  only  to  see  themselves  closed 
between  two  barriers.  The  Iroquois  came  "with  all 
legs,"  as  the  Baron  puts  it,  to  force  the  new  barri 
cade,  but  they  fled  at  the  first  discharge  made  by  the 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  139 

Foxes.  The  Iroquois,  seeing  themselves  thus  closed 
in,  were  led  to  believe  that  the  number  of  the  Foxes 
was  great.  They  questioned  how  to  get  out  of  their 
prison;  whether  to  throw  themselves  into  the  water 
and  cross  one  of  the  lakes,  to  do  which  would  have 
required  much  courage,  for  the  distance  was  long, 
the  water  very  cold,  and  the  ice  not  of  sufficient 
strength  to  sustain  them.  During  this  time  the 
Foxes  fortified  their  barricades  better  and  better, 
and  sent  their  runners  to  the  other  sides  of  the  lakes 
to  kill  all  those  who  attempted  to  escape.  In  spite 
of  these  precautions  the  Iroquois  found  an  expe 
dient,  which  was  to  make  some  rafts  of  the  trees 
which  surrounded  them;  but  the  strokes  of  the 
hatchets  made  the  Foxes  aware  of  the  design  that 
they  had  in  mind,  which  they  believed  to  be  to  make 
some  canoes  of  skins  of  deer  to  pass  over  one  of  the 
little  lakes  during  the  night.  The  rafts  were  made 
in  five  or  six  days,  during  which  time  the  Iroquois 
caught  fish  in  quantities,  in  full  view  of  the  Foxes, 
who  could  not  stop  them.  It  only  remained  to 
cross  the  lakes  and  fight  at  the  place  of  landing  in 
case  their  secret  crossing  was  discovered.  In  order 
to  succeed  better  they  made  an  attempt  of  which 
success  would  have  been  sure  had  the  bottom  of  the 
lake  not  been  so  muddy  that  the  poles,  by  which 
the  rafts  were  moved,  sank  so  deeply  in  the  mud 
that  it  was  found  exceedingly  difficult  to  withdraw 
them.  This  caused  the  Iroquois  to  move  so  slowly 
that  the  Foxes  had  time  to  run  to  the  other  side  of 
the  lake  where  they  perceived  the  Iroquois,  a  mus 
ket-shot  from  the  shore.  At  the  time  they  reached 
a  depth  of  only  three  feet  the  Iroquois  threw  them- 


140  LOST   MARAMECH 

selves  into  the  water,  vigorously  endeavoring  to 
charge  the  Foxes  who  were  no  more  than  three  hun 
dred  in  number  because  they  had  left  fifty  men  at 
each  of  the  barricades.  It  was  a  miracle  that  the 
Iroquois  were  not  all  killed  in  gaining  the  shore,  for 
they  sank  into  the  mud  as  far  as  the  knees.  As  this 
was  during  the  night,  all  of  the  strokes  of  the  Foxes 
were  not  effective  although  there  were  five  hundred 
Iroquois  in  the  water,  the  rest  having  taken  land  in 
spite  of  the  resistance  of  the  Foxes.  The  Iroquois, 
once  landed,  attacked  the  Foxes  so  vigorously  that 
if  the  one  hundred  men  left  to  guard  the  barricades 
had  not  come  promptly,  upon  hearing  the  gunshots, 
the  Foxes  could  not  have  held  their  ground.  They 
fought  until  daylight  in  a  disordered  way,  dispersed 
here  and  there  in  the  woods,  the  people  of  the  same 
party  killing  one  another  without  knowing  it.  The 
Iroquois  who,  until  that  time  were  so  obstinate  as 
not  to  concede  the  field  of  battle,  because  of  their 
wounded  and  also  because  they  did  not  wish  the 
Foxes  to  take  the  scalps  of  their  dead,  were  obliged 
to  fly,  but  were  pursued.  They  rallied  a  league  dis 
tant.  Being  nearly  to  the  number  of  three  hun 
dred,  they  were  surely  stronger  than  the  Foxes,  who 
were  enfeebled  by  having  lost  one-half  of  their 
people  in  this  fierce  battle;  besides  all  this,  among 
the  two  hundred  who  remained  there  were  thirty 
wounded.  The  Foxes,  seeing  the  Iroquois  depart, 
returned  to  their  homes  without  fear.  Arriving  at 
their  village,  they  acknowledged  the  services  of  the 
two  Sauteurs,  who  had  informed  them  of  the 
approach  of  the  Iroquois,  proclaimed  them  great 
chiefs  of  war  and  gave  them  one-half  of  the  results 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  141 

of  their  hunt.  After  having  made  all  good  cheer 
possible  and  having  heaped  all  honors  of  which 
they  were  capable  upon  the  Sauteurs,  they  sent 
them  by  canoe  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  by  way  of  Green 
Bay,  with  an  escort  of  twenty  warriors.  The  Sau 
teurs  in  vain  refused  the  presents  brought  by  the 
cortege,  because  the  two  nations  were  at  war;  but 
the  furs  they  were  made  to  accept,  and  this  led  to 
reconciliation  of  the  two  nations  within  four 
months.  The  Foxes  were  usually  successful  in 
their  battles,  but  the  risk  they  sometimes  took  is 
well  shown  by  the  foregoing. 


The  dancers,  Tama  Reservation. 


The  dog  sacrifice,  Tama  Reservation 


CHAPTER   IX 

The  superstitions  of  the  natives  of  America 
troubled  the  traders  and  explorers  as  little  as  the 
dogmas  of  many  of  the  denominations  trouble  the 
business  world  to-day;  but  the  fathers  sought  out 
the  superstitions  of  the  Indians  with  a  view  to 
eradicating  them  and,  I  fear,  substituting  others. 
Father  Hennepin  had  much  to  say  about  the  super 
stitions  of  the  Indians  and  tells  an  interesting  story 
of  what  took  place  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  while 
he  and  his  party  were  there  making  the  portage. 
They  noticed  five  or  six  Sioux  who  were  in  advance, 
one  of  whom  climbed  an  oak  tree  opposite  the  great 
falls,  where  he  was  weeping  bitterly.  A  well- 
dressed  beaver  robe,  whitened  inside  and  trimmed 
with  porcupine  quills,  he  offered  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
falls.  The  father  heard  him  say,  while  shedding 
copious  tears  and  addressing  the  Great  Creator: 
"Thou  who  art  a  spirit,  grant  that  all  the  men  of 
our  nation  may  pass  here  quietly  without  accident; 
that  we  may  kill  buffalo  in  abundance,  conquer  our 
enemies,  and  bring  our  captives  here,  some  of  whom 
we  will  put  to  death  before  Thee.  The  Foxes  have 
killed  our  kindred.  Grant  that  we  may  avenge 
them."  The  reflective  reader  will  not  say  that  this 
prayer  differs  much,  except  perhaps  in  degree,  from 
that  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  Psalm,  nor  does 
it  differ  much  from  the  prayer  of  the  present  day, 
when  we  ask  that  our  Great  Creator  turn  a  cold 
shoulder  to  our  enemies  and  aid  us. 

143 


I44  LOST   MARAMECH 

Peace  made  with  the  natives  at  the  falls,  the 
father  informs  us  the  day  was  spent  in  dancing, 
feasts,  and  speeches.  A  principal  chief  of  these 
Indians,  turning  toward  the  Recollets,  said:  "See 
the  Gray-Gowns  for  whom  we  feel  great  esteem; 
they  go  barefooted  like  us;  they  despise  the  beaver 
robes  which  we  wish  to  give  them  without  any  hope 
of  return;  they  have  no  arms  to  kill  us  with;  they 
flatter  and  caress  our  little  children  and  give  them 
beads  for  nothing,  and  those  of  our  nation  who 
have  carried  furs  to  the  villages  of  the  French  have 
told  us  that  the  Great  Chief  of  the  French  loves 
them  because  they  have  left  everything  that  the 
French  esteem  most  to  come  and  visit  us  and  remain 
with  us.  You,  who  are  the  chief  of  those  who  are 
here,  arrange  so  as  to  make  one  of  the  Gray-Gowns 
remain  with  us.  We  will  give  him  a  part  of  all  we 
have  to  eat,  and  we  will  take  him  to  our  villages 
after  we  have  killed  some  buffalo,  and  you  who  are 
master  arrange  so  as  to  also  stay  here  with  us.  Do 
not  go  to  the  Illinois,  for  we  know  that  they  wish  to 
massacre  all  the  French.  It  will  be  impossible  for 
you  to  resist  that  numerous  nation." 

Some  parts  of  Hennepin's  story  may  be  bits  of 
romance  similar  to  that  found  in  the  second  edition 
of  his  book,  where  he  claims  to  have  floated  down 
the  Mississippi  river  to  its  mouth,  prior  to  La  Salle's 
voyage,  making  the  journey  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois  river  and  back  in  an  incredibly  short  time. 
It  is  believed  by  some  that  Hennepin  had  nothing 
to  do  with  this  fictitious  claim,  but  that  it  was 
inserted  by  the  enterprising  publisher  of  the  second 
edition,  to  add  interest. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


145 


The  French  traders  had  no  sooner  become  well- 
established  on  the  great  lakes  than  the  people  of 
New  England  turned  envious  eyes  thitherward. 
The  Foxes,  never  over-friendly  with  the  French, 
were  instrumental,  it  is  thought,  in  leading  the  Eng 
lish  on  in  that  direction.  During  the  year  1686  a 
branch  of  the  Fox  tribe  was  located  on  the  banks  of 
the  Detroit  river,  and  the  English  made  every  effort 
to  strengthen  the  friendship  between  themselves 
and  the  Foxes  by  frequent  messages  and  valuable 
presents.  No  permanent  settlement  was  made  by 
the  French  at  Detroit  until  about  fourteen  years 
later.  Thus  occupied,  it  was  regarded  by  both  the 
French  and  English  nations  as  a  most  important 
point,  commanding,  as  it  did,  a  broad  tract  of 
country  even  to  the  Mississippi  river,  and  furnishing 
a  channel  of  navigation  to  the  whole  country  border 
ing  the  lakes.  In  view  of  this  fact  the  establish 
ment  of  a  fortified  post  at  Detroit  was  eagerly 
sought  for  a  long  time  by  both. 

Every  smile  of  the  English  upon  the  tribe  brought 
a  scowl  to  the  brows  of  the  French.  The  Iroquois 
also  claimed  the  west  by  right  of  conquest  and, 
through  the  latter,  the  English  looked  to  gain  a 
hold  on  the  western  trade.  The  Foxes  and  Iroquois 
were  not  always  warring  against  each  other;  they 
mingled,  when  at  peace.  The  character  of  both 
was  such  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  they 
were  said  by  General  Smith,  in  his  History  of  Wis 
consin,  to  be  of  the  same  blood.  He  says:  "The 
Outagamies  or  Foxes  who  resided  along  the  banks 
of  the  Detroit  river  were  of  Iroquois  descent,  and 
agitation  of  the  English  cause  soon  made  their 


I46  LOST   MARAMECH 

power  known  and  severely  felt  by  the  French  settle 
ments.  "  No  fact  is  better  known,  however,  than 
that  the  origin  of  the  two  tribes  was  as  absolutely 
distinct  as  the  languages  they  spoke.  The  Iroquois 
were  Iroquois  and  the  Foxes  were  Algonquins. 

One  of  the  most  influential  officers  sent  by  the  Gov 
ernor  of  New  France  among  the  western  tribes  was 
Nicholas  Perrot,  before  referred  to.  He  was  dis 
patched  to  the  west  in  1670  as  an  agent  of  the  Gov 
ernor  to  propose  a  congress  of  the  western  nations 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  (Smith's  History  of  Wis.,  I.,  32.) 
The  invitation  was  extended  to  all  of  the  tribes  of 
the  western  lake  regions.  It  was  also  carried  to  the 
wandering  hordes  of  the  remotest  north  and  west, 
from  Green  Bay,  by  Pottawatomies. 

The  French  gradually  increased  their  trade  west 
ward,  however,  where  they  were  welcomed,  as  much 
as  anything  because  they  brought  arms  to  the  tribes 
by  which  they  could  win  in  the  wars  against  their 
enemies  farther  on  in  the  wilds.  The  Governor  of 
New  France  chose  Perrot  to  make  discoveries  and 
gain  information  among  the  natives  because  with 
some  of  them  he  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted, 
having  learned  their  languages  well. 

Soon  after  Perrot  left  Montreal  on  one  of  his 
journeys  his  party  met  some  Ottawas  who  informed 
them  that  the  Sauteurs  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Foxes  and  that  they  (the  Ottawas)  were  on  their 
way  to  the  Governor  to  demand  arms  in  exchange 
for  their  furs,  in  order  to  avenge  the  Sauteurs. 

Although  these  people  had  frequent  quarrels 
among  themselves,  for  which  others  cared  little,  it 
was  at  this  time  to  the  interests  of  the  colony  to 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  147 

prevent  them  from  destroying  each  other.  (La 
Potherie,  II.,  p.  166.)  Perrot  promptly  sent  word 
to  the  Governor,  and  the  latter  wrote  to  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  and  to  the  commandant  at  Mackinaw, 
instructing  them  to  prevent  the  Ottawas  from  under 
taking  anything  against  the  Foxes.  The  Ottawas, 
to  whom  the  letters  had  been  given  for  delivery, 
fearing  that  the  Governor  might  put  some  obstacles 
in  their  way,  burned  the  letters,  with  the  exception 
of  those  addressed  to  Perrot,  because  they  imagined 
that,  being  their  friend,  he  would  favor  their 
designs.  All  that  they  said  to  the  fathers  on  their 
arrival  was  that  the  Governor  had  consented  to 
their  making  "soup  of  the  Foxes,"  this  being  their 
way  of  speaking  of  an  enemy  whom  they  expected 
to  attack.  The  letters  delivered  to  Perrot,  how 
ever,  showed  the  contrary  to  be  the  case,  for  the 
Governor  expressly  forbade  them  to  attack  the 
Foxes  and  requested  that  Perrot  adjust  the  differ 
ences,  which  he  proceeded  to  do. 

A  Sauteur  chief  had  a  daughter  of  eighteen  years 
of  age  who  had  been  in  slavery  among  the  Foxes 
for  a  year,  and  he  had  the  apprehension  that  he 
would  be  burned  alive  if  he  should  go  thither  for 
her.  The  various  tribes  of  The  Bay  had  carried 
numbers  of  prisoners  to  the  Foxes  to  purchase  this 
girl,  but  nothing  could  influence  them.  It  was 
feared,  even,  that  she  had  already  been  sacrificed 
to  the  shades  of  the  Fox  chief  whom  the  Sauteurs 
had  killed.  The  father  found  no  consolation,  wher 
ever  he  went,  because  these  people  said  to  him  that 
the  Frenchmen  had  no  influence  among  the  Foxes, 
and  that  his  child  would  never  be  returned  to  him. 


I48  LOST   MARAMECH 

Perrot  undertook  to  restore  the  girl  but  required 
the  father  to  remain  at  The  Bay  for  fear  that  the 
Foxes  would  take  and  burn  him,  and  passed  on. 
When  first  he  arrived  at  the  Fox  village  they 
greeted  him  cordially  and  recited  to  him  the  treason 
of  the  Sauteurs  and  the  Sioux;  they  told  him  that 
their  great  chief  had  been  killed  in  the  wars,  with 
twenty-six  of  their  people,  and,  although  outnum 
bered,  they  had  put  the  enemy  to  flight.  These 
complaints  gave  him  occasion  to  speak  of  this 
daughter  and,  having  made  them  assemble,  he 
addressed  them  in  strong  words:  "Old  men  of  the 
Fox  tribe,  chiefs  and  young  men,  listen  to  me.  I 
have  known  that,  in  order  to  make  peace  with  the 
Sauteurs  and  the  Sioux,  .  .  .  the  first  had  engaged 
the  Sioux  to  put  you  and  your  families  in  the  ket 
tles.  It  is  the  Great  Spirit  that  has  given  us  to 
know  the  perilous  war  you  have  had.  We  have 
prayed  Him  to  have  pity  on  you  and  He  will  be  able 
to  deliver  you  from  your  enemies.  .  .  .  He  met  you 
on  the  battlefield;  you  have  made  some  prisoners, 
and  you  have  cut  off  the  heads  of  those  whom  you 
have  killed,  which  is  proof  of  the  valor  of  savages; 
...  it  is  the  Spirit  that  has  fought  for  you  that  you 
should  recognize  as  your  liberator.  What  wish  you 
to  do  with  this  girl  that  you  have  held  so  long?  Is 
she  able  to  quiet  the  resentment  that  you  have 
against  her  nation?  She  belongs  to  me,  and  I 
demand  her.  I  am  her  father.  That  is  the  senti 
ment  that  prompts  me  to  come  to  you  as  the  first 
Frenchman  who  has  opened  the  doors  of  your 
cabins.  All  these  children  of  The  Bay,  who  are 
my  children  and  your  brothers,  fear  your  refusal; 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  149 

they  fear  the  misfortunes  that  you  menace;  swallow 
your  desire  for  vengeance  if  you  wish  to  live." 

He  had  his  calumet  in  hand  while  speaking  to 
them,  which  he  presented  to  the  lips  of  the  brother 
of  the  great  chief  to  make  him  smoke,  but  it  was 
refused.  He  presented  it  to  others,  who  received 
it.  Finally  he  refilled  it  and  presented  it  again  to 
the  first,  three  times,  but  it  was  rejected  as  before. 
This  led  Perrot  to  leave  in  indignation.  The  tribe 
was  of  two  extractions,  one  calling  themselves 
Foxes,  and  the  others  Musquakees, — "People  of 
the  Red  Earth."  The  one  who  refused  to  receive 
the  calumet  was  chief  of  the  Foxes,  having  taken  the 
place  of  his  brother.  This  chief  of  the  People  of 
the  Red  Earth  followed  Perrot  and  brought  him 
into  the  cabin,  where  he  also  assembled  all  of  the 
old  men  and  the  warriors  of  his  nation,  saying  to 
them: 

"You  have  heard  Metaminens  [Perrot],  your 
father,  who  wishes  to  give  us  life,  and  have  heard 
our  brothers,  the  Foxes,  who  wish  us  to  accept  it. 
.  .  .  Bring  me  the  kettles — we  will  feast  and  I  will 
speak  to  them.  I  will  test  their  good-will  and 
determine  if  they  intend  to  refuse  me.  I  have 
always  sustained  them.  My  dear  father  and  my 
brothers  exposed  themselves  always  for  them,  hav 
ing  lost  many  young  people  in  defending  them.  If 
they  refuse  me,  I  will  put  out  my  fires  and  abandon 
them  to  the  fury  of  their  enemies." 

After  they  had  brought  the  kettles  and  some 
presents,  he  took  his  pipe  and  entered  the  cabin  of 
this  headstrong  man,  with  a  company  of  his  lieu 
tenants,  and  said  to  him:  "My  comrade,  behold  the 


150  LOST   MARAMECH 

pipe  of  our  ancestors  who  are  dead.  .  .  .  They  pre 
sented  it  to  thy  people,  who  have  never  refused  it. 
I  present  it  to  thee,  refilled  [after  a  feast  from  these 
kettles],  and  I  pray  thee  to  have  pity  on  our  chil 
dren  and  give  this  savage  woman  to  Metaminens, 
who  asks  her  of  thee.  He  has  always  been  our 
father." 

The  chief  of  the  Foxes  then  smoked  and  required 
all  his  relatives  to  do  the  same. 

The  chief  of  the  People  of  the  Red  Earth  returned 
to  his  cabin  and  said  to  Perrot  that  the  affair  was 
settled;  he  should  have  the  Sauteur  woman. 

There  arose,  during  the  night,  so  great  a  storm 
that  it  seemed  as  if  the  world  were  being  destroyed. 
It  rained  very  hard;  the  lightnings  and  thunders 
made  so  great  a  disturbance  that  the  people  believed 
themselves  to  be  lost.  As  all  savages  are  naturally 
superstitious,  they  imagined  that  the  Great  Spirit 
was  angered  against  them.  The  fright  had  put  them 
beside  themselves;  they  believed  that  the  Spirit 
was  about  to  overwhelm  them.  Onkinumiassan 
knew  no  longer  where  he  was.  .  .  .  Metaminens 
had  changed  his  course  because  he  knew  well  that 
it  was  the  only  means  by  which  he  could  get  the 
captive  quickly.  Onkinumiassan  prayed  the  chief 
of  the  Red  Earths  to  take  her  to  him;  he  dared  not 
present  himself  before  Metaminens  without  the 
woman.  The  chief  replied:  "It  is  for  thee  to  give 
her  to  him;  ...  he  will  not  show  to  thee  so  much 
of  evil."  So  superstitious  was  this  chief  that  he 
believed  Perrot  to  have  brought  on  the  storm  as  a 
punishment  to  him. 

The  rain  continued  during  the  day.     They  entered 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  151 

into  the  cabin  of  Perrot  with  the  Sauteur  woman, 
beseeching  him  to  stop  the  rain,  which  would 
destroy  them,  and  to  prevent  the  Sauteurs  and  their 
allies  from  any  longer  making  war.  He  thanked 
them  again  by  a  present  of  tobacco  and  a  kettle, 
saying  to  them  that  this  kettle  would  serve  them  for 
a  roof  to  shield  them  from  the  rain,*  and  that  they 
could  smoke  peaceably  and  without  fear  that  the 
Spirit  would  punish  them.  Perrot,  not  believing 
himself  to  be  a  good  prophet,  nor  to  have  the 
ability  to  make  the  rain  stop,  judged  well  that  if  he 
should  rest  long  enough  in  possession  of  the  prisoner, 
matters  were  likely  to  change.  He  took  leave  of 
them,  notwithstanding  the  bad  weather,  promising 
them  that  it  would  become  pleasant  before  he 
arrived  at  The  Bay. 

The  Foxes  treated  their  prisoners  with  more 
humanity  than  did  most  other  tribes.  A  Shawnee 
prisoner,  who  had  been  taken  by  the  Iroquois,  was 
rescued  by  the  Sauteurs,  and  finally  sent  by  the 
Pottawatomies  back  to  his  people,  with  a  supply  of 
goods  received  from  the  French  traders;  this  was 
with  a  view  to  inducing  his  tribe  to  join  them,  as 
La  Salle  had  early  planned  and  partly  brought  about. 

Forty  Shawnee  warriors  by  these  presents  were 
induced  to  establish  themselves  near  the  Pottawato 
mies  and  surprised,  during  their  voyage,  some  Iro 
quois  who  were  on  their  way  from  having  made  war 
on  the  tribes  neighboring  Green  Bay,  of  which  they 

*  This  metaphor  was  probably  intended  to  impress  upon  them 
the  belief  that  the  kindly  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  Sauteurs, 
induced  by  the  giving  up  of  the  chief's  daughter,  was  such  as 
to  shelter  them  from  attack. 


152  LOST   MARAMECH 

had  killed  and  brought  away  several.  They  passed 
by  a  village  of  Miamis,  who  received  them  so  well 
they  could  not  refuse  to  give  them  the  prisoners 
they  had  taken  from  the  Iroquois.  The  Miamis 
sent  the  prisoners  to  the  Foxes,  to  be  eaten,  in  order 
that  the  latter  might  avenge  the  occupants  of  the 
five  cabins  the  Iroquois  had  taken  away  a  little 
before.  The  Foxes,  believing  this  a  favorable 
opportunity  to  make  an  exchange  of  prisoners  how 
ever,  sent  an  ambassador  to  the  Iroquois  nation. 
When  the  ambassador  had  turned  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan  he  found  eight  hundred  Iroquois  on  their 
way  to  attack  the  first  village  they  might  reach. 
The  Iroquois  were  calmed  and  gave  their  promise 
to  the  ambassador  that  there  should  henceforth  be  a 
barrier  between  his  nation,  including  its  allies,  and 
theirs,  and  that  the  river  Chicagon  [Chicago]  should 
be  the  limits  of  their  war  courses. 

We  are  shown  on  early  maps  the  Des  Plaines 
river  as  the  Chicagou,  and  also,  on  other  maps,  the 
well-known  river  that  parts  the  great  city,  as  having 
its  present  name.  Must  it  not  then  be  that  the 
Iroquois  promised  this  ambassador  from  the  Fox 
nation  that  the  Chicago  river,  as  we  know  it,  or  per 
haps  the  Des  Plaines,  also  called  the  Chicagou  in 
those  days,  should  be  the  limit  of  their  aggressions? 
The  indefiniteness  of  La  Potherie  leads  me  to  believe 
that  historians  have  not  dared  locate  many  of  the 
tragedies  and  other  events  mentioned  by  him;  the 
fact  is  that  we  find  no  mention  of  such  a  river  in 
Nicholas  Perrot's  manuscript  in  this  connection. 
The  caution  I  have  so  far  exercised  I  shall  relax 
somewhat,  while  dealing  in  matters  dwelt  upon  by 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


153 


La  Potherie  with  reference,  as  I  believe,  to  past 
events  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  great  city  of  the 
west,  and  the  ancient  "great  village  of  Maramech. " 
I  am  fully  warranted  in  assuming  that  by  "Chi- 
cagon"  (evidently  one  of  the  many  errors  in  reading 
the  old  French  manuscripts)  is  meant  "Chicagou. " 
This  last  was  the  most  common  way  of  spelling  the 
name  two  centuries  ago. 

The  claims  made  by  the  Iroquois  to  a  great  area 
west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains  were  founded  on 


FRAGMENT  OF  JEFFREY'S  MAP   NOT  DATED.     SHOWING  WEST 
ERN  BOUNDS  OF  THE  IROQUOIS. 

previous  conquests;  but  the  line  they  drew  did  not 
always  bar  their  steps.  The  map  on  page  33, 
sketched  from  Bowen  and  Gibson's  of  1763,  shows, 
by  dotted  lines  drawn  along  the  Illinois  river  and,  in 
part  following  the  Des  Plaines  (laid  down  as  "Illi 
nois  or  Chicagou  river"),  where  the  limits  of  the 
Iroquois  claims  were  understood  to  be  when  the 
English  took  possession  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
The  Iroquois  sent  the  Fox  ambassador  to  his  tribe 


154  LOST   MARAMECH 

with  one  of  their  principal  men  and  a  young  warrior, 
and  turned  themselves  against  the  Shawnees.  This 
principal  man  (a  chief)  passed  by  the  towns  of  the 
Miamis,  Mascoutins,  and  Kickapoos,  where  he  was 
well  received  and  presented  with  a  quantity  of 
beaver  skins.  These  nations  deputed  two  Miamis 
to  accompany  him  on  his  return  in  order  to  treat 
for  peace.  Going  to  the  village  of  the  Foxes  they, 
in  turn,  gave  him  proofs  of  their  good-will,  and  he 
finally  arrived  at  Green  Bay,  where  the  people 
expressed  great  joy  and  received  him  as  a  friend. 
They  made  presents  of  furs,  and  also  gave  him  two 
large  canoes  to  enable  him  to  carry  the  presents  he 
had  received. 

The  Iroquois  army,  deterred  from  their  purpose 
to  attack  the  northern  tribes,  divided,  sending  six 
hundred  against  the  Shawnees  who  formed  a  part  of 
the  Illinois  confederation,  while  two  hundred  fol 
lowed  the  Des  Plaines  river  to  Chicago,*  where  they 
encountered  some  Illinois  who  were  returning  from 
Mackinaw  with  some  Ottawas,  of  whom  they  cap 
tured  and  killed  nineteen.  The  Illinois  might  have 
attacked  the  Iroquois  but,  instead,  sent  deputies  to 
Governor  Frontenac,  and  complained  that  the  Iro 
quois  had  violated  the  peace  and  said  that,  fearing 
to  displease  him,  they  had  not  attacked  the  Iroquois 
in  return;  they  demanded  justice  through  him. 

The  Governor  sent  word  by  M.  de  la  Forest  who, 
in  the  absence  of  Tonty,  commanded  at  the  Illinois 
village  'neath  the  frowning  brow  of  what  is  now 

*The  Indian  town  and  river  were  variously  spelled: 
Chigaiva,  Chikagoua,  Chikagawa,  Chicagou,  Chikagou  and 
many  others. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  155 

Starved  Rock,  that  they  must  defend  themselves  if 
again  attacked,  but  must  not  be  the  aggressors. 

Shortly  after  La  Salle's  first  visit,  one  branch  of 
the  Miamis  placed  themselves  in  his  "Colonie,"  sixty 
leagues  distant  from  the  river  St.  Joseph,  because  of 
having  had  trouble  with  those  who  served  the  Recol- 
lets  who  were  brought  to  the  river  St  Joseph  by 
La  Salle.  That  the  new  village  was  at  Maramech, 
west  of  the  boundary  defined  by  the  Iroquois,  seems 
probable  because  the  Miamis  would  there  be  better 
shielded  from  those  terrible  invaders. 

It  was  "out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire"  with 
the  Foxes.  The  Iroquois  had  pledged  themselves 
to  go  no  farther  westward  than  the  rivers  I  have 
mentioned  as  limiting  their  boundary,  which  fact 
gave  the  Foxes,  now  out  of  one  danger,  an  oppor 
tunity  to  renew  the  old  quarrel  with  the  Sauteurs, 
which  was  not  a  marked  success. 

The  Foxes  formed  a  party  of  thirty  young  war 
riors,  who  captured  twelve  Sauteur  women  and 
children,  and  the  news  was  at  once  carried  to  the  set 
tlements  at  Green  Bay,  where  the  French  were  asked 
to  go  and  request  the  Foxes  to  send  back  an  Ottawa 
and  a  Sokokis  girl,  but  to  keep  the  others  until 
were  brought  back  some  of  the  children  of  that  tribe 
that  they  had  held  several  years.  A  Sauteur  chief 
who  was  present  was  shocked  by  the  refusal  of  the 
Foxes  to  return  some  of  the  prisoners.  The  French, 
in  their  march,  met  two  of  their  comrades  whom  the 
Iroquois  had  wished  to  kill,  but  who  had  saved 
themselves.  When  the  French  arrived  at  the  vil 
lage  of  the  Foxes  they  called  an  assembly.  One  of 
the  Frenchmen  spoke: 


1 56  LOST   MARAMECH 

"Foxes,  listen  to  what  I  have  to  say.  I  have 
learned  that  you  have  a  strong  desire  to  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  French,  and  I  have  come  to  satisfy  you  with 
these  young  men  whom  you  see;  put  us  in  your  ket 
tles  and  satiate  yourselves  upon  our  flesh."  Draw 
ing  his  sword  he  threw  open  his  garments.  "My 
flesh  is  salty;  I  do  not  believe,  if  you  eat  it,  it  can 
pass  the  knot  of  your  neck  without  causing  you  to 
vomit." 

The  first  chief  of  war  responded:  "What  child 
would  eat  his  father,  from  whom  he  has  received 
life?  Thou  hast  given  the  day  to  us  when  thou  to 
us  hast  brought  the  iron  [guns]  and  now  thou  sayest 
we  would  eat  thee." 

The  Frenchman  replied:  "Thou  hast  reason  to 
say  to  me  that  I  have  given  the  day  to  thee,  for 
when  I  came  in  thy  village  all  were  miserable  as 
people  who  had  nowhere  to  dwell  and  who  wandered 
to  the  farthest  distances  in  the  land.  At  present 
you  live  in  repose  and  enjoy  the  clear  sky  that  I 
have  procured  thee;  you  enjoy  the  light  that  I  have 
procured,  and  still  you  wish  to  trouble  the  earth, 
kill  the  Sauteurs  and  subdue  those  that  I  have 
adopted  before  thee — vomit  your  prey;  rend  my 
body  which  you  wish  to  put  in  your  kettles,  but  fear 
the  odor  that  shall  from  it  arise,  for  you  may  excite 
some  vapors  that  shall  form  angry  waves  that  will 
sweep  over  your  village  which  will  be  in  one 
moment  consumed  by  the  fire  and  lightning  that 
come  from  them,  and  that  will  be  followed  by  a 
hail  that  shall  fall  with  such  impetuosity  upon  your 
families  that  they  cannot  be  sheltered  from  it.  Do 
you  remember  your  ancestors  and  yourselves,  who 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  157 

have  been  vagabonds  to  the  present  time?  Are  you 
weary  of  well  doing?  Vomit!  Believe  your  father 
who  does  not  wish  to  abandon  you  unless  you  com 
pel  him  to  do  so.  Listen  to  my  words  and  I  will 
reconcile  myself  to  the  bad  affairs  that  you  have 
made  with  the  Sauteurs." 

In  Perrot's  manuscript  is  found  a  proposed 
address  setting  forth  his  ideas  as  to  how  the  various 
western  tribes  should  have  been  approached  in 
regard  to  their  intertribal  relations,  more  partic 
ularly  concerning  the  Foxes: 

"Listen,  my  children,"  said  our  Father  Onontio; 
"listen,"  said  he;  "I  am  pained  to  hear,  all  these 
years,  what  has  been  told  of  the  carnage  that  has 
taken  place  in  your  countries,  resulting  in  the 
destruction  of  one  another;  I  am  horrified  because 
of  the  blood  spilled  and  that  which  will  be  spilled. 
Unless  I  put  an  end  to  it,  I  am  assured  that  you  will 
soon  destroy  yourselves  and  that  I  shall  have  chil 
dren  no  more.  I  love  your  people  and  your  fam 
ilies,  and  I  wish  them  to  live. 

"Thou  Ottawa,  thou  makest  war  against  the  Fox, 
who  has  given  thee  life,  having  taken  thy  part 
against  the  Miami,  when  thou  wentest  in  the  hunt 
at  the  headwaters  of  the  Black  river,  for  he  [the 
Miami]  would  have  killed  thee  but  for  him  [the 
Fox]  and  the  Kickapous,  who  were  opposed  to  his 
[the  Miami's]  designs. 

"Thou  Sauteur,  in  the  same  time  thou  hast  saved 
the  life  of  all  the  nation  that  was  in  Mamekagan 
when  Chingounabe  invited  the  Miamis  to  attend  his 
dog  feast.  He  intended  to  betray  and  devour  thee, 
if  the  Fox  that  thou  regardest  as  thine  enemy  had 


158  LOST   MARAMECH 

consented  to  thy  destruction.  Thou  hast,  however, 
killed  him;  he  had  only  avenged  himself  when  thou 
compelled  him  to  do  it;  but  he  has  restored  to  thee 
willingly  thy  people,  and  thou  hast  his  people  yet. 

"Thou  Miami,  thou  knowest  that  the  Fox  has 
never  gone  to  war  against  thee;  he  has  defended 
thee  and  has  aided  thee  to  avenge  thyself  when  thou 
hast  been  defeated  by  the  Sioux. 

"Thou  .  .  .  ,*  thou  art  not  ignorant  that  thy 
chiefs  died  of  sickness  when  the  Fox  was  [gone]  to 
avenge  the  Miamis  of  the  Crane,  who  would  have 
been  defeated  by  the  Sioux,  if  he  [the  Fox]  had  not 
had  pity;  he  has  won  them  by  presents  and  has 
confirmed  the  alliance  which  thou  hadst  contracted 
with  him  [the  Sioux],  with  whom  thou  hast  never 
been  in  war,  no  more  than  with  the  Kickapou,  who 
has  visited  every  village  with  him;  whereas  the  other 
Miamis  have  killed  the  relatives  of  thy  people  this 
winter. 

"Thou  Illinois,  thou  never  madest  war  against  the 
Fox,  neither  against  the  Kickapou;  thou  hast,  how 
ever,  attacked  him  when  he  was  at  Detroit;  he  has 
defended  himself;  you  have  killed  one  another; 
thou  hast  avenged  thyself  when  he  was  defeated  at 
Detroit,  and  when  he  returned  to  his  country;  he 
took  one  of  thy  chiefs,  whom  he  has  sent  back,  and 
thou  hast  killed  his  deputy;  thou  shouldst  be  satis 
fied. 

"Thou  Pottawatomie,  thy  nation  is  half  Sacs;  the 
Sacs  are  in  part  Foxes;  thy  cousins  and  thy  brothers- 
in-law  are  Foxes  and  Sacs.  Pirimon  and  Ouene- 

*  Illegible  in  the  manuscript.  Mascoutins  are  thought  to  be 
the  people  referred  to. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


159 


mek,  who  are  thy  chiefs,  and  who  mourn  the 
murders  which  have  been  committed  in  thy  families, 
— they  are  Sacs.  I  love  you  all,  says  your  father 
Onontio.  I  will  extinguish  the  fires  of  war,  which 
are  so  brilliant  that,  besides  all  of  you  who  have 
been  consumed  by  them,  they  will  not  fail  to  con 
sume,  from  all  quarters,  the  remainder,  if  I  do  not 
extinguish  them. 

"Thou  Huron,  be  content;  thou  hast  lost  thy 
people,  but  thou  shouldst  be  avenged  [be  satisfied 
with  what  vengeance  thou  hast  already  had].  Thou 
art  too  cruel;  remember  what  thou  hast  done  against 
me  and  against  my  children,  thy  allies,  since  I  have 
taken  up  for  thee  against  all,  and  since  I  have  pro 
tected  thee,  and  if  I  had  not  protected  thee,  thou 
wouldst  be  no  more.  Thou  hast  wished  to  betray 
me  on  many  occasions;  and  I  have  pardoned  thee, 
in  order  to  gain  thy  gratitude. 

"Thou  Ottawa,  thou  hast  killed  the  Miamis  at 
Detroit,  who  were  under  my  protection;  thou  hast 
assassinated  some  Frenchmen  there  at  the  same 
time,  and  elsewhere. 

"Thou  Sauteur,  thou  hast,  in  like  manner,  killed 
some  Frenchmen;  thou  also  hast  killed  some  Mis- 
sisakis.  I  have  grieved  for  my  dead,  but  I  have  not 
chastened  thee;  and  thou  Miami,  also;  I  have  par 
doned  all. 

"And  very  far  from  avenging  myself,  I  have 
defended  thee  against  the  Iroquois,  who  was  one  of 
my  faithful  children  that  thou  hast  killed,  and  who 
has  never  caused  trouble  since  the  last  peace  which 
I  succeeded  in  making  between  you,  without  which 
he  would  have  destroyed  you  all  For  he  was  capa- 


160  LOST    MARAMECH 

ble  of  destroying  all,  without  asking  from  me  any 
thing  but  my  will  and  consent;  on  the  contrary,  to 
defend  you,  I  have  not  only  furnished  you  with 
arms  but,  more,  with  my  young  men,  who  have 
been  entirely  destroyed  by  you.  I  have  even 
defended  you  against  the  Fox,  who  has  never  killed 
any  of  my  people. 

"I  wish,  my  children,  that  this  war  might  be 
ended,  and  if  any  one  does  not  obey  me,  I  declare 
myself  against  him  and  for  the  Fox. 

"All  the  nations  would  have  consented  to  peace. 
This  is  why  we  ought  not  to  fear  to  reproach  them 
for  their  vices  any  more  than  for  [to  reproach  them 
on  account  of]  the  services  that  we  have  rendered 
them;  for  the  character  of  the  savage  is  not  to  for 
get  the  good  that  has  been  done  him  [and  we  have 
aided  them]  as  opportunities  have  occurred. 

"These,  Your  Highness,  are  my  humble  opinions, 
which  would  have  led  to  success  if  I  had  accom 
panied  M.  De  Louvigney. 

"As  to  the  Foxes,  I  would  welcome  the  end  of 
them." 


Joseph  Tisson,  the  interpreter,  and  child. 
Tama  Reservation. 


CHAPTER  X 

While  De  Nonville  was  Governor  of  New  France, 
in  his  attempts  to  defeat  the  Iroquois  he  allied  the 
western  tribes.  A  body  of  the  Miamis  was  stationed 
at  Chicago,  and  somewhere  near  the  French  had  a 
fort  and  trading-post.  At  one  time  three  men  were 
heard  approaching  the  post  crying  that  the  Miamis 
were  all  dead;  that  the  Iroquois  had  defeated  them 
at  Chicagon  (Chicago).  They  were  requested  to 
enter  the  fort  and,  given  an  opportunity  to  smoke 
and  rest,  they  gradually  regained  their  composure. 
After  they  had  eaten  they  were  questioned  as  to  the 
news  and  said:  "When  you  made  presents  this 
autumn  to  Apichagan,  chief  of  the  Miamis,  he 
departed  the  next  day  to  inform  all  the  Miamis  and 
our  people  ot  what  you  had  said;  he  made  them 
consent  to  follow  you.  Two  Frenchmen  sent  some 
presents  to  the  Miamis  to  say  to  them  that  Onontio* 
wished  that  they  establish  themselves  at  Chicago. 
Apichagan  opposed  this  and  said  that  his  people 
had  all  been  killed  at  the  river  of  St.  Joseph,  when 
La  Salle  established  them  at  that  place.  The  French 
sent  some  of  their  people,  who  declared  to  Apicha 
gan,  on  the  part  of  Onontio,  that  he  would  abandon 

*  When  Montmagne,  one  of  the  early  Governors,  reached 
Canada,  his  name  was  explained  to  the  natives  as  meaning 
Great  Mountain,  and  hence  after  that  time  each  Governor  was 
known  as  Onontio,  that  being  the  native  word  for  such  a  phys 
ical  characteristic. 

161 


162  LOST    MARAMECH 

them  if  they  did  not  obey  him.  He  requested  them 
to  follow  Perrot,  who  had  given  them  life  and  had 
prevented  the  slaughter  of  many  of  their  families  at 
Chicago.  The  Miamis  having  arrived  at  Chicago, 
the  French  requested  them  to  hunt  there  and  return 
to  the  fort  of  the  French  to  supply  their  needs. 
Some  of  the  Miamis  who  had  not  arrived  at  Chicago 
were  surprised  by  the  Iroquois.  A  chief  was  taken 
who,  in  his  song  of  death,  demanded  of  his  enemies 
that  they  spare  his  life;  he  assured  them  that  he 
would  deliver  his  village  to  them  if  they  would  per 
mit  him  to  live.*  Some  hunters,  members  of  these 
families  who  *,had  been  to  Chicago,  returning  to 
their  homes  perceived  afar  a  great  encampment,  and 
they  judged  that  their  people  had  been  defeated 
and  had  fled  to  the  fort  to  carry  the  news  to  the 
French.  The  Miamis  who  were  there  consulted 
whether  they  should  make  an  assault  or  take  flight. 
A  Sokoki  who  was  among  them  warned  them  not  to 
trust  the  French,  for  they  were  friends  of  the 
Iroquois.  The  Miamis  believed  him  and  fled  in  all 
directions.  The  Iroquois  came,  conducted  by  the 
Miami  chief  who  had  [offered  to  betray  his  village, 
but  found  only  four  Frenchmen  who  had  just  arrived 
from  the  Illinois,  and  attacked  them.  The  Iroquois 
pursued  those  who  had  fled  from  the  village  and 
captured  all  the  women  and  children. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  Miamis  at  Chicago 
spread  among  the  tribes,  and  a  hundred  Miami, 
Mascoutin,  Pottawatomie,  and  Fox  warriors  pur 
sued  the  Iroquois  and  attacked  them,  tomahawk  in 

*  Such  cowardice  was  so  uncommon  among  the  Indians  that 
what  is  charged  seems  incredible. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  163 

hand,  with  such  fury  that  they  killed  a  hundred  of 
them,  retook  half  of  their  people  and  scattered  the 
Iroquois,  who  would  have  been  defeated  if  the  pur 
suit  had  continued.  (This  is  possibly  the  affair 
mentioned  by  La  Hontan,  II.,  167.) 

The  commandant  in  the  west  (La  Potherie  tells 
us),  presumably  Perrot,  came  from  his  trading-post 
among  the  Sioux  and  sent  a  tomahawk  to  each  of 
the  various  tribes,  requesting  them  to  join  and 
strike  the  Iroquois.  On  his  way  from  his  fort  he  saw 
smoke  which  he  believed  was  from  an  army  of  the 
allies  going  against  the  Sioux.  He  met  the  Mas- 
coutin  chief,  who  was  on  his  way  to  find  him,  and 
was  informed  that  the  Foxes,  Kickapoos,  and  other 
people  of  The  Bay  had  come  to  pillage  his  supplies 
in  order  to  get  arms  to  aid  them  in  their  attacks  on 
the  Sioux. 

They  had  resolved  to  force  the  fort  and  kill  all  the 
French  if  they  made  the  least  resistance.  Three 
spies  were  sent,  who  made  the  pretext  of  trade,  and 
reported,  upon  returning,  that  they  had  seen  only 
six  Frenchmen,  the  commandant  not  being  there. 
Two  more  spies  came  the  next  day,  ostensibly  for 
the  purpose  of  trade.  The  French  had  taken  the 
precaution  to  put  some  loaded  guns  near  the  doors 
of  their  cabins.  In  order  that  the  savages  might  be 
deceived  as  to  the  number  of  people,  and  to  make 
the  deception  more  nearly  complete,  the  French 
changed  their  clothes  occasionally.  The  savages 
asked  how  many  Frenchmen  there  were,  and  were 
answered  that  there  were  forty,  and  that  they  were, 
at  that  moment,  awaiting  others  from  the  buffalo 
hunt  across  the  river.  Seeing  all  the  arms  in  readi- 


1 64  LOST   MARAMECH 

ness,  the  savages  were  led  to  reflect.  The  French 
men  told  them  that  they  were  always  ready  in  case 
the  savages  came  to  attack  them  and,  being  on  a 
great  trail,  they  always  held  themselves  in  readiness, 
knowing  the  savages  to  be  very  inconstant,  and  told 
them  to  bring  the  chiefs  of  each  nation,  as  they  had 
something  to  say  to  them,  but  that  if  they  ap 
proached  the  fort  in  large  numbers  they  would  be 
fired  upon.  Six  of  these  chiefs  came,  who  cast 
away  their  bows  and  arrows  at  the  doors,  and  were 
permitted  to  enter.  Seeing  all  the  arms  in  readi 
ness  they  asked  the  commandant  if  he  feared  his  chil 
dren.  He  replied  that  he  was  not  embarrassed,  as 
he  knew  how  to  slay  others.  He  told  them  that  the 
Great  Spirit  had  informed  him  of  their  designs, 
saying  that  they  wished  to  carry  away  his  effects  in 
order  to  go  against  the  Sioux,  and  intended  to  put 
him  in  the  kettle.  They  admitted  this  was  true  and 
hoped,  as  he  was  a  father  to  them,  that  he  would  be 
indulgent. 

Next  morning  the  army  of  savages  approached 
and  claimed  they  wished  to  trade,  but  the  French 
men  required  one  of  the  chiefs  to  mount  the  door  of 
the  fort  and  tell  them  not  to  advance  or  they  would 
be  killed;  that  the  Spirit  had  informed  Metaminens 
[Perrot]  of  their  resolution. 

This  trouble  over,  Perrot  was  then  free  to  under 
take  to  assemble  recruits  to  go  against  the  Iroquois, 
some  of  whom  were  Foxes,  some  were  Miamis  of 
Maramech,  and  some  Pepikokias,  then  living  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Pestekouy  (the  Fox  river  of  Illi 
nois),  some  Mangokekis,  west  of  the  same  river, 
some  Piankeshaws,  east  of  the  river,  and  some  Kila- 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  165 

taks,  from  the  south  side  of  the  Illinois  river.  Some 
of  the  latter  would  have  perished  of  hunger  had  not 
others  had  a  sufficient  supply  to  aid  them. 

It  required  many  presents,  however,  to  turn  these 
people  against  the  dreaded  Iroquois,  the  common 
enemy.  Very  far  from  keeping  their  promise,  they 
amused  themselves  at  buffalo  hunts  for  a  whole 
month;  the  Foxes  and  Mascoutins  were  at  war  with 
the  Sioux,  hoping  to  terrify  the  latter  so  that  they 
would  not  dare  approach  their  villages  while  they 
were  making  war  on  the  Iroquois. 

Perrot  was  made  a  prisoner  by  Mascoutins,  who 
were  of  one  of  the  nations  that  had  been  particularly 
benefited  by  him  in  matters  of  trade.  They  had 
sent  to  him  asking  that  he  come  and  trade  at  their 
village.  He  complied,  accompanied  by  a  Potta- 
watomie  chief  and  six  Frenchmen.  No  sooner  were 
they  there  than  the  Mascoutins  seized  his  merchan 
dise.  It  was  the  custom  among  the  savages  to  feed 
well  the  prisoners  who  were  to  be  burned,  in  order 
that  they  might  have  strength  to  endure  the  tortures 
of  fire  longer.  One  of  the  chiefs  chided,  saying  that 
they  should  care  better  for  him.  They  wished  to 
sacrifice  him  to  the  shades  of  a  number  of  their 
people  who  had  been  killed  on  several  occasions, 
they  said,  for  he  had  been  the  author  of  the  deaths. 
A  warrior  informed  him  that  he  was  to  be  burned  at 
the  rising  of  the  sun,  on  the  prairies;  that  he  was  a 
sorcerer  and  had  been  the  cause  of  the  death  of  fifty 
of  their  people  to  satisfy  the  shades  of  two  French 
men  whom  the  Mascoutins  had  killed  at  Chicago. 
He  was  told  that  if  the  French  had  merely  avenged 
themselves,  nothing  would  have  been  said,  for 


1 66  LOST   MARAMECH 

"blow  should  be  paid  for  blow";  but  that  he  had 
been  too  cruel. 

He  awaited  his  fate  calmly,  but  the  Pottawatomie 
chief,  fearing  for  himself,  sang  his  death  song. 
Perrot  was  taken  from  the  village  the  next  day  with 
the  other  Frenchmen,  they  complaining  bitterly  of 
their  fate.  While  this  was  taking  place  the  Mas- 
coutins  busied  themselves  dividing  Perrot's  mer 
chandise. 

It  resulted,  however,  that  Perrot  was  not  burned, 
but  made  his  escape;  how  has  not  been  told  us 
except  by  Tailhan,  who  says  that  he  was  rescued  by 
the  Foxes. 

A  Miami  who  had  a  Mascoutin  wife  saw  the  war 
riors  leaving  with  Perrot,  and  immediately  gave 
information  to  his  nation  that  the  Frenchman  had 
been  pillaged  and  burned  by  the  Mascoutins.  The 
chief  of  the  Miamis  was  then  engaged  in  war  with 
the  Iroquois,  but  his  tribe  did  not  wait  a  moment, 
after  his  arrival,  to  avenge  the  supposed  death  of 
Perrot.  The  nations  at  The  Bay  were  also  in 
formed,  and  they  wished  to  raise  the  tomahawk  and 
chastise  the  Mascoutins. 

This  being,  however,  the  time  of  the  troubles  with 
the  Iroquois,  Perrot  turned  their  warlike  spirit  to 
account  in  that  direction. 

The  Miamis  of  Maramech  captured  eight  Loups, 
to  whom  the  English  had  given  many  presents. 
They  gave  four  of  these  prisoners  to  the  command 
ant  of  the  branch  of  the  Miami  tribe  living  on  the 
river  St.  Joseph,  and  destined  the  others  for  the 
French,  their  friends,  who  had  rendered  them  sev 
eral  services.  De  Louvigney  sent  thirty-eight  men 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  167 

in  quest  of  these  people,  with  an  order  for  them  to 
put  the  prisoners  "in  the  kettle"  (a  figure  of  speech 
meaning  to  kill,  and  sometimes,  as  well,  to  eat),  if 
they  were  not  able  to  get  them  to  Mackinac;  but  the 
Miamis  of  the  St.  Joseph  river  had  taken  them 
away.  The  Frenchmen  presented  the  Miamis  of 
Maramech  with  fifty  pounds  of  powder  to  engage 
them  in  their  interests.  These  Miamis  marched  to 
the  number  of  two  hundred,  but  separated  into  four 
parties  after  having  divided  the  powder  among 
them. 

The  Miamis  who  remained  at  the  village  of  Mara 
mech  made  a  solemn  feast  next  day  by  order  of  the 
great  chief,  to  obtain  from  the  Great  Spirit  a  fortu 
nate  return  of  the  warriors.  They  dressed  an  altar, 
on  which  they  put  some  bearskins,  of  which  they 
daubed  the  heads  with  green  earth.  As  they  passed 
before  the  altar  they  bowed  and  knelt.  All  of  the 
people  were  obliged  to  assist  in  this  ceremony. 
Jugglers  and  the  medicine-men,  and  those  who 
called  themselves  sorcerers,  formed  the  first  rank; 
they  held  in  hand  their  medicine-bags  and  their 
implements  of  jugglery;  they  threw  a  spell  over 
those  they  wished  to  have  die,  who  feigned  to  fall 
dead;  but  the  medicine-men  put  drugs  between  their 
lips  and  resuscitated  them  by  shaking  them  rudely. 
The  one  that  could  make  the  most  grotesque  figure 
drew  the  most  admiration.  They  danced  to  the 
sound  of  the  drum  and  gourd  rattles;  they  formed 
into  two  parties,  as  enemies,  and  attacked  and 
defeated  in  turn.  They  had  some  skins  of  water- 
adders  and  otters  which,  they  said,  produced  death 
to  those  on  whom  was  thrown  this  spell,  and  they 


1 68  LOST   MARAMECH 

brought  to  life  all  that  they  wished.  The  master  of 
the  ceremony,  accompanied  by  two  old  men  and  two 
women  at  his  side,  marched  with  gravity  while  going 
to  announce,  at  the  doors  of  all  the  cabins  of  the 
village,  that  the  ceremony  would  immediately  com 
mence.  They  laid  hands  upon  all  they  met,  who 
thanked  them  by  dropping  to  the  knee  and  embra 
cing  their  legs.  One  saw  nothing  but  dancing,  and 
heard  nothing  but  the  howls  of  the  dogs  that  were 
killed  for  the  sacrificial  feast.  The  bones  of  those 
they  had  eaten  were  then  burned,  as  at  a  holocaust. 
The  persons  who  were  killed  and  resuscitated 
danced  separately,  while  some  remained  as  if  dead. 
Men,  women,  and  girls,  and  young  persons  of  the 
age  of  twelve  years,  fell  dead  and  were  resuscitated. 
The  jugglers,  the  medicine-men  and  the  sorcerers 
were  each  fitted  out  with  their  finest  ornaments. 
Some  thrust  sticks  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length,  and 
the  size  of  the  thumb,  down  their  throats  and  simu 
lated  death;  but  medicine  was  given  them  that 
brought  them  to  life  and  set  them  dancing  again. 
Others  swallowed  the  feathers  of  swans  and  eagles, 
which  they  withdrew  and  then  fell  as  dead  and,  in 
turn,  were  resuscitated  also.  One  recognized  in 
their  movements  nothing  more  than  artifices  most 
diabolical.  The  wealth  of  all  the  people  was  divided 
among  the  jugglers. 

The  ceremonies  continued  day  and  night  for  five 
days.  They  sought  the  cabins  at  night  and  the  pub 
lic  places  during  the  day,  marching  always  in  pro 
cession.  It  was  represented  to  them  that  what  they 
did  was  criminal  before  God.  They  responded  that, 
on  the  contrary,  this  was  the  proper  means  to  influ- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  169 

ence  the  Great  Spirit  to  deliver  the  enemy  to  their 
young  people,  who  would  perish  in  war  if  this 
solemnity  were  not  observed. 

It  resulted  that  one  of  the  parties  returned,  at  the 
end  of  thirty  days,  and  had  killed  several  Iroquois 
without  having  lost  one  of  their  people.  They 
asked  the  French:  "Believe  you  that  the  Great 
Spirit  has  listened  to  our  prayers?"  The  other 
parties  returned  somewhat  later  with  several  prison 
ers  and  the  Loups  that  the  Miamis  of  St.  Joseph 
had  held. 

Does  it  seem  possible  that  where  now,  on  sum 
mer  nights,  laughter  echoes  midst  the  maples  and 
the  whip-poor-wills  mock  the  music  at  the  camp- 
fires,  where  Sylvan  Spring,  like  a  well-filled  goblet, 
pours  Nature's  nectar  o'er  its  brim,  where  now  to 
sigh  is  madness,  and  where,  within  the  hearing  of 
the  dullest  ears,  the  bells  and  choirs  call  to  lesser 
superstitious  practices,  all  this  took  place? 

The  Mascoutins  at  last  wished  to  draw  Perrot  to 
them,  and  one  of  the  tribe  arrived  at  Maramech  and 
assured  him  that  they  would  satisfy  him  for  the 
loss  of  his  merchandise.  The  Miamis,  who  knew 
that  the  Mascoutins  wished  only  to  capture  him, 
brusquely  demanded  of  them  if  they  believed  he 
was  a  dog  that  one  could  chase  away  when  he 
troubled  them,  and  make  return  by  a  caress. 

The  Mascoutins  had  learned  that  all  of  the  people 
of  The  Bay,  the  Miamis  and  others,  had  wished  to 
avenge  the  insult  they  had  offered,  and  sent  two 
deputies  to  pray  Perrot  not  to  depart  from  Mara- 


i;o  LOST   MARAMECH 

mech,  where  they  wished  to  speak  to  him.  Their 
chief  came,  with  several  warriors,  and  entered  the 
cabin  of  the  Miamis,  where  they  assembled  many  of 
the]  principal  men  of  the  nation  and  some  Kicka- 
poos;  the  latter  had  brought  a  slave  and  three  chil 
dren,  whom  they  made  sit  before  Perrot.  The 
Mascoutins  said  that  they  had  only  borrowed  the 
guns,  at  the  same  time  presenting  the  slave.  They 
made  various  other  presents,  accompanied  by 
remarks  [to  the  effect  that  they  had  only  taken  the 
merchandise  on  credit. 

Perrot  did  not  succeed  in  getting  the  Miamis  of 
Maramech  nor  the  small  branch  of  the  Miami  tribe 
that  had  established  itself  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  near  the  lead  mines,  to  join  those 
located  on  the  St.  Joseph  river.  They  did  not  feel 
safe  where  they  were,  for  they  did  not  take  any 
stock  in  the  promise  made  by  the  Iroquois  that 
their  westward  excursions  should  be  limited  by  the 
Chicago  river.  (La  Potherie,  II.,  316.) 

The  ambition  of  the  Iroquois  was  still  ultimately 
to  destroy  the  Illinois,  as  they  had  long  sought  to 
do,  and  hence,  in  order  to  allay  the  fears  of  those 
who  would  otherwise  ally  themselves  with  the  Illi 
nois,  they  declared  the  limit  of  their  claims  of  pos 
session  to  be  as  later  shown  on  Jeffrey's  map  of 
1777,  by  a  dotted  line.  On  Gibson's  map  is  this 
legend:  "The  pecked  line  extending  by  the  Illinois 
through  Quadaghe  cross  the  Lakes,  Illinois  and 
Hurons,  shows  the  bounds  of  the  territories  of  the 
Six  Nations,  which  by  deed  of  sale  they  surrendered 
to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain  in  1701,  and  renewed 
in  1726  and  1744." 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  171 

An  envoy  was  sent  to  tell  the  people  of  the  Miami 
village  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
that  the  Governor  of  New  France  had  something 
important  to  tell  them.  They  were  informed  that 
they  were  useless  to  the  Governor  in  the  place 
where  they  were;  that  they  were  not  provided  with 
munitions  of  war  and  would  not  be  able  to  get  any, 
if  the  Iroquois  should  turn  their  tomahawks  against 
them;  and  that  they  ought  to  understand  that  the 
Sioux  might  easily  fall  upon  them  also,  should  the 
Sioux  wish  to  avenge  their  dead  against  the  Mas- 
coutins. 

The  people  of  this  village  "promised  to  place 
their  fires  atMaramech."  They  would  have  placed 
them  on  the  river  St.  Joseph,  at  the  solicitation  of 
the  chief  of  that  region,  but  he  refused  to  give  them 
powder  and  ball.  He  certainly  did  stand  in  his  own 
light,  as  they  declared,  and  it  is  probable  that  this 
branch  of  the  Miamis  believed  themselves  safer  at 
Maramech,  on  the  Fox  river  of  Illinois,  beyond  the 
line  limiting  the  claims  of  the  Iroquois. 

The  Mascoutins  had  failed  in  their  stroke  against 
the  Sioux,  with  whom  they  were  at  that  time  at 
war,  and  fear  that  the  branch  of  Miamis  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  might  ally  themselves  with  the  Sioux 
against  them  induced  the  Mascoutins  to  send  one 
of  their  chiefs  to  Maramech  to  sound  carefully  the 
Miamis  of  that  region  as  to  any  possible  intentions 
against  them. 

The  affairs  among  the  tribes  were  decidedly 
mixed.  The  Foxes  had  received  some  Iroquois 
prisoners  from  the  Miamis  of  Chicago.  Policy  pre 
vented  them  from  burning  these  captives,  for  they 


1 72  LOST   MARAMECH 

hoped  that,  in  case  the  Sioux  came  against  them, 
they  could  throw  themselves,  with  their  families, 
on  the  Iroquois  and,  with  these  prisoners,  pave  the 
way  to  a  peaceful  union. 

In  their  efforts  to  get  the  Miamis  of  Maramech  to 
abandon  their  fires,  the  Governor  finally  commanded 
that  they  be  given  powder  in  order  that  their  fam 
ilies  might  subsist  during  the  journey  to  the  St. 
Joseph,  and  to  kill  any  Iroquois  whom  they  might 
encounter. 

Returning  to  the  Foxes,  La  Potherie  tells  us  that 
at  one  time  they  built  a  new  village  of  more  than 
six  hundred  cabins  and  invited  the  Sacs,  then  near 
them  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  to  share  it  with  them. 
The  Sacs  sent  deputies,  accompanied  by  some 
Frenchmen,  to  investigate  and  consider  the  pro 
priety  of  accepting  the  invitation.  They  found  the 
people  destitute.  The  Foxes  had  only  about  five 
or  six  hatchets,  all  without  edges,  which  served 
each  family,  in  turn,  to  cut  wood;  scarcely  had  they 
an  awl  or  knife  to  each  cabin.  They  cut  their 
meat  with  the  flints  of  their  arrows,  and  scaled  fish 
with  clam  shells.  The  misery  of  the  people  was 
great  enough  to  excite  compassion  among  the 
French.  They  were  so  thin  that  whenever  they  had 
eaten  their  fill  they  appeared  malformed;  in  feature 
they  were  disagreeable,  of  voice  brutal,  and  of 
visage  bad.  They  acted  as  though  they  thought  the 
French  should  give  up  to  them  all  they  had;  the 
fact  was  that  they  had  but  few  beaver  skins  with 
which  they  found  it  possible  to  buy  anything.  Such 
was  often  the  impoverished  condition  reached  by 
these  people.  (La  Potherie,  II.,  98.) 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  173 

The  custom  among  the  western  tribes  to  heal 
wounds,  as  they  termed  it,  by  means  of  presents,  is 
well  shown  in  the  case  of  a  Sac  at  this  Fox  village, 
who  was  bathing  in  the  river,  when  a  Frenchman 
came  and  bantered  the  Sac  to  let  him  shoot  one  of 
his  arrows.  The  Sac,  having  a  bit  of  "cloth,  held  it 
as  a  target,  but  the  Frenchman's  aim  was  not  good 
and,  as  the  Sac  was  not  quick  enough  to  "dodge,  the 
arrow  struck  his  shoulder  and  he  yelled  that  the 
Frenchman  had  killed  him.  Perrot  ran  to  him, 
pulled  out  the  arrow  and  'made  him  a  present  of  a 
knife,  a  little  vermilion,  with  which  to  beautify  his 
face,  and  a  piece  of  tobacco.  The  presents  were 
sufficient  to  appease  him,  but  his  comrades  prepared 
to  avenge  the  injury  and  sought  the  Frenchman,  but 
were  dissuaded  by  the  Sac,  who  shouted:  "Where 
are  you  going?  I  am  cured.  Metaminens  has 
healed  me  by  this  ointment  that  you  see  on  the 
wound,  and  I  am  no  longer  suffering  any  injury." 

With  these  people  the  name  given  by  the  parent 
to  a  child  was  usually  ignored  as  the  individual 
advanced  in  years,  and  special  names  given,  often 
prompted  by  fancy.  Once  accepted  the  name 
remained,  for  a  time  at  least,  by  common  consent. 
So  it  was  that  Perrot,  the  friend  of  all  northern 
tribes, 'was  known  as  Metaminens,  the  word  mean 
ing  "Little  Corn."  May  not  the  title  have  been 
chosen  because,  of  all  the  French  who  came  among 
them,  he  best  suited  their  needs  and  fancies,  and  to 
him  they  gave  the  name  of  that  variety  of  the  pride 
of  their  fields  which,  when  parched,  served  best 
their  needs  when  on  long  war  excursions? 

Trade  had  given  the  Hurons  advantages  that  were 


174  LOST   MARAMECH 

soon  sought  by  other  tribes,  some  of  whom  had  been 
driven  west  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  Iroquois. 
The  Miamis,  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos,  and  fifty  fam 
ilies  of  Illinois  also  chose  to  be  near  the  French 
post  at  Green  Bay,  because  they  needed  knives  and 
hatchets,  such  as  they  had  seen  in  the  hands  of  the 
Hurons.  They  chose  to  make  their  fields  about 
seventy  miles  south  of  one  of  the  villages  of  the 
Foxes.  This  probably  placed  them  some  distance 
below  the  head  waters  of  the  river  then  known  as 
Pestekouy.  The  Illinois  and  Miamis  had  long 
made  their  fields  and  hunted  over  the  surrounding 
prairies  and  had  run  the  woods  that  bordered  the 
beautiful  river,  and  the  bones  of  their  fathers  called 
them  back  to  their  old  homes  on  its  shores.  To 
them  eventually  came  the  French,  led  by  Perrot, 
accompanied  by  some  Mascoutins.  A  Miami 
among  them,  owning  a  gun,  was  sent  before  to 
announce  the  coming,  which  he  did  by  firing  within 
earshot  of  the  village.  They  were  welcomed  by  an 
old  man  and  woman,  who  carried  an  earthen  pot  of 
newly-prepared  succotash;  it  was  in  the  season  of 
the  withering  of  the  silks  of  the  corn  and  when  the 
beans  were  most  tender.  How  the  French  must 
have  relished  the  luxury  brought  from  the  native 
cornfields  and  gardens  that,  mixed  and  boiled,  we 
know  to  be  so  toothsome!  We  well  may  thank 
those  crude  people  who  taught  our  mothers  to  pre 
pare  the  primitive  dish,  one  of  the  most  enjoyable 
served  to  the  hungry. 

The  old  man  bore  a  calumet  cut  out  of  the  red 
stone  brought  from  the  pipestone  quarries  of  Minne 
sota,  its  long  stem  ornamented  with  the  heads  of  the 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  175 

brilliant  woodpeckers  and,  at  its  middle,  a  bunch  of 
red  feathers.  When  he  saw  Perrot,  the  leader  of  the 
French,  he  presented  the  calumet.  Holding  it  to 
the  sun  he  uttered  words  seemingly  addressed  to 
all  of  the  many  spirits  adored  by  his  people.  As  if 
addressing  the  god  of  day,  in  his  course,  he  held  it 
first  to  the  east  and  then  to  the  reddening  west. 
Many  evolutions  followed,  all  seemingly  accom 
panied  by  words  of  prayer  and  seeming  praise  that 
the  French  had  been  permitted  to  come  among 
them.  A  buffalo-robe,  "its  hair  soft  as  silk," 
was  spread  on  the  grass  and  Perrot  and  his  com 
panion  requested  to  sit.  The  old  man  failing,  on 
account  of  the  dampness,  to  get  fire  to  light  the 
calumet  by  rubbing  two  pieces  of  wood  together, 
Perrot  astonished  them  all  with  his  steel,  flint,  and 
punk.  To  them  the  steel  seemed  to  be  a  spirit — a 
new  one  to  be  added  to  their  already  too  long  list. 
All  then  smoked  and  a  feast  of  soup  was  prepared, 
made  from  dried  meats,  and  followed  by  a  dessert 
of  the  juice  of  stalks  of  ripening  corn. 

Passing  on,  frequent  halts  were  made  until  finally 
they  reached  a  hill,  on  the  slope  of  which  was  a 
great  village  composed  of  various  tribes.  The  chief 
of  the  Miamis  met  them  at  the  shore,  at  the  head 
of  three  thousand  men,  calumet  in  hand.  A  chief 
of  war  raised  Perrot  on  his  shoulders  and,  accom 
panied  by  the  musicians,  carried  him  to  the  village. 
This  village  must  have  been  one  of  the  many  that 
were  located  in  the  "Colonie  du  Sr.  de  La  Salle," 
the  principal  one  of  which  was  Maramech.  The 
Mascoutins  who  had  brought  him  turned  him  over 
to  the  Miamis  to  be  cared  for,  but  the  latter  were 


i;6  LOST   MARAMECH 

loth  to  deprive  them  of  the  company  of  the  French 
man.  Perrot  was  given  fifty  guards  to  prevent 
annoyance  by  the  crowds  of  curious  people.  A  feast 
was  given,  served  on  wooden  dishes  that  looked 
more  like  troughs  than  plates.  The  foods  were 
soaked  with  buffalo  fat.  Particular  attention  was 
paid  to  Perrot  by  the  attendants  who,  presumably, 
expected  ample  rewards.  The  Frenchman  pre 
sented  a  gun  and  kettle,  and  in  an  address  praised 
the  people,  particularly  in  regard  to  their  physical 
characteristics.  Finally  he  cast  more  than  a  dozen 
awls  and  knives,  saying:  "Leave  your  awls  of 
bone;  those  of  the  French  will  serve  you  better, 
and  these  knives  will  be  more  useful  to  you  in  dress 
ing  your  beavers  and  cutting  your  meats  than  are 
your  own  made  of  stone."  The  Miamis  apologized, 
regretting  that  they  had  not  beavers  upon  which 
they  might  feast  the  Frenchmen. 

An  alliance  of  all  these  tribes  was  brought  about 
by  the  interposition  of  Perrot,  and  at  the  end  of 
eight  days  a  feast  was  made  to  thank  the  sun  for 
lighting  his  way  to  their  village.  In  his  cabin  the 
great  chief  of  the  Miamis  had  erected  an  altar,  upon 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  put  his  medicine-bag  in 
which  his  charms  were  carried.  Perrot,  not  approv 
ing  the  ceremonies,  said  that  he  worshipped  a  God 
who  forbade  him  to  eat  anything  sacrificed  to  evil 
spirits.  They  were  greatly  surprised  by  this  refusal 
and  requested  him,  after  removing  their  charms,  to 
then  eat  of  what  had  been  prepared.  The  chief  also 
prayed  Perrot  to  promise  the  true  God  that  hence 
forth  he  would  give  Him  preference  because  his  own 
god  had  not  taught  them  to  make  hatchets  and  ket- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  177 

ties  and  all  things  of  the  kinds  brought  by  the 
French;  and  that  he  would  hope,  in  worshipping 
Him,  to  obtain  all  the  knowledge  that  the  French 
had. 

All  of  these  tribes  deliberated  in  council  whether, 
having  few  furs  and  being  short  of  provisions  for 
their  families,  they  should  go  with  the  French  to 
Montreal.  Deciding  to  go,  they  made  great  prepa 
rations,  beginning  with  a  solemn  feast.  The  even 
ing  before  their  departure  they  fired  volleys  of 
musketry  in  the  village.  Three  men  also  sang  all 
the  night  without  ceasing,  invoking,  from  time  to 
time,  different  gods.  They  sang  to  Michapous,  the 
great  hare,  their  most  influential  god,  then  to  the 
god  of  the  lakes,  of  the  rivers  and  of  the  forests, 
praying  the  winds,  the  thunder,  the  storms,  and  the 
tempests  to  be  favorable  to  them  during  their 
voyage. 

In  the  morning  the  village  crier  called  the  men  to 
the  cabins  where  the  feast  was  to  be  served.  There 
came  the  singers  of  the  night  before,  the  first  one 
stationed  at  the  door  of  the  cabin,  the  second  at 
the  center,  and  the  third  at  the  extreme  end,  armed 
with  quivers,  bows,  and  arrows,  the  face  and  all  the 
body  of  each  blackened  with  coals  from  the  fires, 
and  each  performed  his  part.  They  sang  their 
songs,  each  in  turn.  Twenty  nude  and  painted 
young  men  entered,  decorated  with  crow  feathers 
and  belts  of  otter  skins.  Vigorous  dancing  fol 
lowed;  so  vigorous,  in  fact,  as  to  frighten  the  women 
and  children.  Sixty  volunteered  to  go  with  the 
Frenchmen,  and  later  seventy  more  joined  them  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie, 


178  LOST   MARAMECH 

While  these  were  passing  the  portage  at  the  head 
of  the  Ottawa  river,  on  their  way  to  Montreal,  they 
were  requested  by  the  Nipissings  to  pay  toll;  in 
fact,  a  large  part  of  their  furs  were  required  to  gain 
permission  to  pass.  This  incident  shows  that  the 
Foxes  along  the  Wisconsin  river  were  not  alone  in 
exacting  toll. 

Perrot  repaired,  on  another  mission  of  friendship, 
to  the  Miamis  at  Chicago.  We  learn  from  early 
accounts  that  the  Miamis  had  a  village  on  the  river 
of  that  name,  and  it  is  probable,  several  of  them. 
This  tribe  was  also,  in  part,  located  near  the  Illinois 
town  of  Kaskaskia,  opposite  Fort  St.  Louis,  and 
Maramech  was  on  the  great  trail  that  passed  directly 
from  the  Miami  and  the  Illinois  villages  to  Chicago. 

Perrot  visited  Maramech,  as  previously  stated,  as 
a  representative  of  the  Governor  of  New  France  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  tribes  that  were  allied 
to  the  French.  During  the  years  that  Perrot  rep 
resented  the  government  in  the  west  he  visited  the 
various  Miami  tribes,  in  1692-3  was  at  "Malamet" 
(Maramech)  on  the  river  Pestekouy  (now  the  Fox 
river  of  Illinois)  and  not  on  the  Kalamazoo,  as 
supposed  by  O'Callaghan,  who  is  followed  by 
Margry,  in  Chain  of  Posts*  Neither  the  birch-bark 
canoes  nor  dugouts  were  sufficiently  seaworthy  to 
cross  the  lake,  and  Perrot,  to  be  in  the  "way"  between 
the  Iroquois  and  the  Algonquin  nations,  could  not 
have  been  at  the  Kalamazoo,  but  plainly  on  the 
Pestekouy,  as  is  seen  by  Franquelin's  maps  of  1684, 
1687,  anc*  J688,  and  a  score  of  other  old  maps.  That 

*  For  a  discussion  of  this  subject  see  ante  pages  70-75. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  179 

great  concourses  of  Indians  repaired  to  the  actual 
"Maramech"  is  evident  by  relics  there  found,  sug 
gesting  a  trading  station,  and  by  the  great  area  cov 
ered  by  that  and  possibly  both  earlier  and  later 
towns.  In  1694  Nicholas  Perrot  arrived  at  Mon 
treal  from  the  west  with  the  Ottawas  and  farthest 
nations,  with  ten  or  twelve  canoes  of  Pottawatomies, 
Sacs,  Folles-Avoines  (Winnebagoes),  Foxes,  and 
"Miamis  of  Maramek. "  Every  one  of  these  tribes 
was  from  the  west  side  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  the 
"Miamis  of  Maramek"  were  that  branch  of  the  tribe 
that  often  warred  against  the  Foxes  and  Sioux,  and 
that  often  joined  one  or  the  other.  The  chief  Mes- 
sitonga,  a  "Miami  of  Maramek,"  said:  "When  the 
Sioux  kills  me,  I  bow  my  head  and  recollect  my 
father  has  forbidden  me  to  turn  my  tomahawk 
against  him."  The  fact  that  Messitonga  spoke  of 
being  killed  by  the  Sioux  shows  clearly  that  the 
great  barrier,  Lake  Michigan,  was  not  between  him 
and  the  Sioux;  that  the  Illinois,  the  Miamis  of  Chi 
cago,  the  Pottawatomies  and  Menominees,  the 
Ottawas,  Sacs,  and  Foxes,  Kickapoos,  and  Mas- 
coutins,  most  of  whom  were  from  time  to  time  at 
war  with  the  Sioux,  were  not  on  the  way  (route) 
between  him  and  the  English,  if  he  was  on  the 
Kalamazoo.  At  a  great  council  held  in  1694,  where 
the  various  western  tribes  were  represented,  Perrot 
spoke  for  the  "Pepicoquis,  who  also  are  Miamis  of 
Maramek."  The  Pepicokias,  near  neighbors  of  the 
Miamis  of  Maramek,  were  far  from  the  Kalamazoo, 
which  is  across  the  lake  from  the  Maramech  of 
Franquelin's  map;  they  fished  and  hunted  along  the 
beautiful  Pestekouy  and  there  chased  the  buffalo 


i8o  LOST   MARAMECH 

on  all  of  the  five  prairies  that  approached  Maramech 
and  the  river  it  adorned,  which  prairies  formed  a 
great  range  that  was  the  typical  locality  of  the  wild 
ox  of  America;  the  river  being  called  the  Pestekouy 
by  the  Algonquins,  the  name  also  being  that  of  the 
buffalo. 


CHAPTER  XI 

In  1672  Allouez  met  the  "Machkoutench,  Mara- 
meg,  Kikaboua,  Illinoie,  Pepikoukia,  Kilatika,"  and 
others,  all  later  mapped  in  the  so-called  "Colonie  du 
Sr.  de  La  Salle."  He  says  (Relations,  1672):  "They 
were  deeper  in  the  woods"  (from  the  Mission  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier);  but  he  errs  by  later  saying  that 
they  were  to  the  "westward,"  for  they  were,  in  fact, 
on  the  "Pestekouy"  river,  which  heads  within  a  few 
leagues  of  the  site  of  his  ancient  mission  at  Green 
Bay.  They  were  not  the  Maramegs  of  the  Chip- 
pewa  tribe,  north  of  Lake  Superior,  nor  were  they 
people  of  the  river  "Maramec"  of  Michigan,  for 
unquestionably  they  were  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
tribes  he  mentions,  where  La  Salle  later  found  them. 
They  were  of  the  "Great  Village  of  Maramek" 
referred  to  in  the  reports  of  1695  (^  ^  C°l*  Docs.^ 
IX.,  621-624),  where  we  read:  "Sieur  Perrot  pre 
sented  a  robe  on  the  part  of  the  Pepicoquis,  who 
also  are  Miamis  of  Maramek." 

It  is  believed  that  the  Foxes  got  more  than  their 
share  of  blame  for  the  depredations  along  the  Wis 
consin  river,  from  the  fact  that  the  Mascoutins,  their 
near  neighbors,  often  outdid  them  in  acts  of  barbarity. 
While  Perrot  was  commandant  at  Maramech  these 
tribes  united  in  an  attack  on  the  Sioux.  Perrot  had 
a  fort  and  trading  post  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  "opposite  the  lead  mines,"  where  the  lowas 
and  Sioux  came  to  trade.  The  Mascoutins  and 

181 


182  LOST   MARAMECH 

Foxes,  being  "at  war  with  the  Sioux,  claimed  that 
the  traders  were  supplying  arms  to  their  enemy,  and 
planned  to  rob  Perrot.  They  prepared  an  ambush, 
but  the  dogs  of  the  Frenchmen  found  them  out  and 
their  plans  were  defeated. 

The  Miamis,  almost  always  bitterly  against  the 
Iroquois,  once  raised  a  band  of  three  hundred  war 
riors  and  were  ready  for  the  warpath.  Some  French 
men  who  were  in  the  vicinity,  considering  only  their 
own  immediate  interests,  made  them  believe  that 
Onontio  wished  them  to  hunt  the  beaver  during  the 
winter  in  order  to  trade  the  furs  for  ammunition  to 
become  better  able  to  go  against  the  common  enemy 
during  the  rcoming  spring;  but  the  counsel  did  not 
delay  them,  and  they  went  and  captured  twelve 
Iroquois  and  broke  their  heads.  Finding  themselves 
pursued,  they  killed  sixteen  on  another  occasion. 

The  Sacs  and  their  allies  were  wise  enough  to 
prove  their  fidelity  to  Onontio.  There  were  only 
the  Foxes  and  Mascoutins  who  violated  their  prom 
ises;  they  were  infuriated  against  the  Sioux,  notwith 
standing  an  alliance  of  peace,  and  found  themselves 
in  embarrassments  from  which  they  were  finally  only 
able  to  extricate  themselves  by  the  mediation  of  the 
French.  They  were  never  able  to  efface  from  their 
hearts  the  passion  for  revenge  that  dominated  them. 
They  moved  in  a  body  and  provoked  a  combat  with 
the  Sioux,  taking  over  four  hundred  prisoners  and 
cutting  to  pieces  all  who  resisted.  They  practiced 
some  unheard-of  cruelties  on  their  prisoners,  seem 
ingly  to  avenge  the  loss  of  fifteen  warriors,  in  the 
action,  and  burned  two  hundred  women  and  chil 
dren.  Six  Frenchmen  went  to  liberate  some  of  the 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  183 

prisoners  and,  on  the  way,  passed  some  of  the  lately 
killed.  The  Miamis  (the  branch  on  the  Mississippi 
near  the  lead  mines)  were  sensibly  touched  by  the 
depredations  and,  fearing  that  the  Sioux  would  lay 
violent  hands  on  them,  they  being  the  neighbors  of 
the  Foxes  and  Mascoutins,  they  engaged  Perrot  to 
go  to  the  Sioux  and  assure  them  that  the  Miamis 
had  taken  no  hand  in  the  murders,  and  to  say  that 
they  would  take  their  part.  He  went  with  a  party 
of  Sioux  who  came  from  a  reconnoiter  against  the 
Mascoutins,  and  who  said  that  they  had  found, 
about  twenty  miles  above,  sixty  of  their  people  who 
formed  the  advance  guard,  to  see  if  their  enemy  was 
likely  to  return  the  attack.  He  had  no  sooner 
approached  the  Sioux  than  they  bathed  him  with 
their  tears,  making  cries  capable  of  touching  the 
hearts  of  the  most  insensible.  After  having  wept  a 
half  hour  they  raised  him  on  a  bearskin  and  carried 
him  to  the  top  of  a  hill,  upon  which  they  camped. 
He  requested  them  to  make  his  arrival  known  at  the 
French  fort. 

Several  days  after  he  departed  with  six  Sioux. 
He  passed  by  the  village,  entirely  ruined,  where  he 
saw  the  sad  remains  of  the  fury  of  their  enemies. 
The  lamentations  of  those  who  had  escaped  from 
the  cruelties  were  heard  on  all  sides. 

There  chanced  to  be  there  at  that  time  a  French 
man  who  called  himself  a  great  captain.  In  expo 
sing  some  pieces  of  cloth  for  sale  he  made  the  people 
believe  that  the  fabrics  would  develop  an  evil  spirit 
that  would  cause  the  death  of  those  who  had 
devoured  their  families.  This  trifling  enabled  him 
to  dispose  of  his  merchandise.  When  the  Sioux 


184  LOST   MARAMECH 

learned  of  the  arrival  of  Perrot  they  conducted  him 
to  his  fort.  He  took  a  favorable  opportunity  to 
present  to  them  the  pipe  of  peace  on  the  part  of  the 
Miamis,  and  said  to  them: 

"Chiefs,  I  weep  the  death  of  your  children;  the 
Foxes  and  Mascoutins,  in  deceiving  me,  have 
ravished  you.  Heaven  has  witnessed  their  cruelty, 
for  which  it  will  punish  them.  The  blood  of  your 
dead  is  yet  too  fresh  to  warrant  you  in  undertaking 
to  avenge  them;  Heaven  wishes  that  you  weep  to 
appease  it.  It  has  declared  against  you  and  will 
not  assist  if  you  put  yourself  in  march  this  summer. 
I  have  learned  that  you  have  assembled  to  search 
your  enemies;  they  are  entrenched  in  a  good  fort; 
the  Foxes  have  the  greater  part  of  the  prisoners 
taken  from  you  and  will  undoubtedly  massacre  them 
if  your  warriors  appear.  I  cover  your  dead*  by 
casting  to  them  two  kettles;  but  do  not  bury  the 
kettles  with  them.  I  will  shelter  your  dead  from 
the  storms  until  Onontio  shall  have  learned  of  your 
loss;  he  will  determine  what  he  can  do  for  you.  I 
shall  go  to  him  and  do  my  best  to  learn  from  him 
what  he  can  do  to  restore  your  children.  He  can 
only  be  influenced  by  compassion.  The  Miamis, 
who  are  his  children,  have  obeyed  him  when, 
through  me,  he  has  bidden  them  to  cease  making 
war  against  you;  they  have  learned  of  your  affliction 
and  lament  your  disaster.  Behold  the  pipe  of 
peace,  which  they  send  you  with  the  word  that  they 
disapprove  of  the  course  taken  by  the  Foxes  and 
Mascoutins,  and  pray  you  to  remember  the  alliance 

*  By  this  idiom  is  meant,  I  soothe  your  feelings  for  the  loss 
of  your  dead  by  casting  to  their  spirits,  etc. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  185 

existing  between  them  and  you;  if  you  make  up 
parties  to  go  to  find  the  bones  of  your  dead,  do  not 
mistake  and  peril  their  families." 

This  speech  was  followed  by  very  bitter  lamenta 
tions;  there  were  heard  only  cries  and  dirges.  They 
took  brands  from  the  fire  with  which  they  burned 
their  bodies,  without  wincing,  saying  several  times 
this  word  of  despair:  "Kabato!  Kabato!" 

Perrot,  having  yielded  the  time  they  gave  to  these 
natural  impulses,  gave  them  presents  of  several 
lengths  of  tobacco  and  said:  "Smoke,  chiefs! 
Smoke,  warriors!  Smoke  peaceably  in  the  hope 
that  will  return  to  you  some  of  your  wives  and  chil 
dren;  that  I  will  take  them  from  the  jaws  of  your 
enemies.  Place  again  all  your  confidence  in 
Onontio  [Governor  Frontenac],  who  is  master  of 
the  land,  from  whom  you  will  receive  satisfaction." 

Perrot,  pausing,  cast  to  them  some  packages  of 
knives  and  continued:  "These  knives  are  to  dress 
the  beavers  and  not  to  scalp  men ;  use  them  until  you 
have  news  from  Onontio." 

The  Frenchmen  who  had  stopped  them  to  trade 
in  furs,  were  compelled  to  come  to  the  fort  to  dis 
pose  of  their  merchandise.  The  one  they  had 
regarded  as  a  great  captain  having  arrived,  they 
sought  him  and  said  that  since  the  cloths  he  had 
sold  them  had  caused  the  deaths  of  the  Foxes  and 
Mascoutins,  they  wished  to  sing  to  him  and  Perrot 
some  of  the  dirges  of  the  calumet,  to  lead  them  to 
aid  in  their  undertakings.  "We  have  resolved," 
said  they,  "not  to  leave  our  dead  until  we  have 
taken  a  village,  the  people  of  which  we  wish  to  sac 
rifice  to  the  shades  of  our  dead.  We  recognize  the 


1 86  LOST   MARAMECH 

Miamis  as  our  brothers,  and  we  are  going  to  send 
deputies  to  make  peace  with  them.  We  have  little 
against  the  Foxes  for  taking  away  our  women,  for 
they  have  spared  their  lives;  they  have  not  followed 
them  when  they  have  escaped.  Ten  have  returned 
who  have  said  that  the  Foxes  are  kindhearted  and 
that  the  latter  censured  the  Mascoutins  for  having 
eaten  all  of  their  captives."*  It  was  reported  that 
for  one  Mascoutin  who  had  been  killed  in  the 
encounter  they  had  burned  and  put  to  death  twenty 
of  the  Sioux  women  and  children,  and  that  they 
lived  only  on  the  flesh  of  the  prisoners,  in  the  retreat. 
The  trader  said  that  he  was  ready  to  receive  the 
pipe  if  Perrot  would  do  so.  The  Sioux  assembled 
in  the  cabin  of  the  war  chief,  where  they  performed 
the  ceremony  of  the  pipe  of  war,  in  which  they  asked 
the  two  Frenchmen  to  smoke.  Putting  the  ashes  of 
the  tobacco  on  the  ground,  they  invoked  the  Great 
Spirit,  the  sun,  the  stars,  and  all  the  lesser  spirits. 
Perrot  refused  the  pipe,  saying  that  as  he  was  only  a 
child  he  could  do  nothing  without  the  participation 
of  his  father,  Onontio;  that  he  had  come  to  lament 
their  dead  and  to  bring  the  pipe  of  peace  from  the 
Miamis  who  had  not  participated  in  the  barbarities 
of  their  enemies;  that  if  they  wished  to  give  him  a 
pipe  to  reply  to  the  Miamis,  he  would  carry  it  to 
them,  but  that  he  was  not  in  position  to  declare 
against  the  Mascoutins,  who  would  distrust  him  for 
that  reason;  that  they  would  not  fail  to  learn  that 
one  had  sung  to  him  the  dirge;  that  he  had  great 

*  To  "eat  the  captives"  did  not  always  mean  to  use  them  as 
food,  but  it  was  often  a  general  term  signifying  to  make  way 
with  them. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  187 

reason  to  complain  of  their  ingratitude  because  he 
had  run  great  risks  of  being  himself  burned  among 
them,  but  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  lay  all  such 
matters  before  Onontio.  The  Sioux  admitted  that 
he  was  right  and  were  made  to  believe  that  they  had 
sufficient  reason  to  hang  up  the  tomahawk  until 
Onontio  should  know  all  that  had  passed. 

The  Foxes  much  wished  that  the  Frenchmen 
would  bring  some  of  the  Sioux  to  treat  for  peace,  as 
they  were  much  embarrassed  by  their  prisoners; 
they  were  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  their  conduct 
was  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  those  people.  The 
Sioux  judged  it  not  judicious  to  expose  their  depu 
ties  alone,  and  so  departed,  thirty  in  number,  to  go 
to  the  Miami  village  that  was  located  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  opposite  the  lead 
mine.  The  Miamis  were  informed  of  the  coming  of 
the  [deputies,  and  forty  went  to  meet  them.  The 
interview  between  these  people  passed  with  offers  of 
services  on  the  part  of  one  and  of  lamentations  on 
the  part  of  the  other.  The  Sioux  shed  many  tears, 
as  was  their  custom  on  such  occasions,  on  the^heads 
of  the  Miamis.  The  ^Miamis  presented  the  Sioux 
with  one  of  the  girls  and  a  little  boy  that  they  had 
taken  from  the  Mascoutins,  and  covered  the  dead 
Sioux  by  giving  eight  kettles,  assuring  the  Sioux  of 
their  friendship  and  asking  the  chiefs  to  smoke, 
promising  to  bring  back  as  many  of  their  women  and 
children  as  they  could. 

The  Miamis  and  Sioux  had  (unknown  to  the 
Frenchmen)  some  secret  meetings  during  one  night, 
when  the  Miamis  vowed  the  entire  destruction  of  the 
Mascoutins. 


1 88  LOST   MARAMECH 

The  Miamis  last  referred  to  were  informed  that 
Onontio  wished  to  communicate  with  them  and  they 
came,  to  the  number  of  twenty-five.  They  were 
told  that  they  were  useless  where  they  were  to  aid  in 
sustaining  Onontio  in  the  war  against  the  Iroquois; 
that  they  would  not  be  given  munitions  of  war  if 
they  did  not  also  turn  their  tomahawks  against  the 
common  enemy;  that  they  ought  to  assure  them 
selves  that  the  Sioux  would  not  fall  upon  them  when 
they  should  go  to  take  vengeance  for  their  dead 
against  the  Mascoutins.  They  promised  to  "place 
their  fires  at  Maramek."  They  would  have  gone  to 
the  river  St.  Joseph,  where  was  a  large  branch  of  the 
Miami  tribe,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  chief  there, 
but  for  the  refusal  of  powder  and  balls,  which  gave 
them  the  bad  opinion  they  had  of  him. 

The  Mascoutins  learned  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Sioux  and  Miamis,  by  the  interposition  of  Perrot, 
and  they  conjectured  that  Perrot's  act  was  only  the 
result  of  the  recollection  of  the  insults  they  had 
committed  against  him.  They  admitted  his  loss  and 
flattered  themselves  that,  in  taking  his  goods  and 
those  of  the  Frenchmen  who  were  with  him,  they 
had  means  to  enable  them  to  withdraw  more  easily 
to  the  Iroquois  if  they  should  fall  under  the  fire  of 
the  nations  that  had  vowed  vengeance  against  them. 
They  resolved  to  surprise  Perrot  one  night,  but 
some  dogs  that  had  a  great  antipathy  for  the 
savages  who  eat  them,  caused  them  to  be  discovered. 
This  obliged  Perrot  to  put  himself  on  the  defensive. 
The  Mascoutins,  who  had  failed,  withdrew  without 
undertaking  anything  further.  The  fear  they  had 
that  the  Frenchmen  and  Miamis  would  unite  with 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  189 

the  Sioux  against  them,  inclined  them  to  send  one 
of  their  chiefs  to  Maramech  to  skillfully  sound  the 
Miamis  of  that  village,  as  previously  stated.  He 
there  chanced  to  meet  Perrot,  with  whom  he  had  a 
conference.  The  savages  were  commonly  politic 
and  compliant  in  their  conduct.  He  said,  "Thou 
rememberest,"  at  the  same  time  smiling,  "what  I 
have  done  to  thee;  thou  seekest  to  avenge  thyself." 
The  controversy  continued  for  some  time,  but  Perrot 
contented  himself  with  reproaching  the  Mascoutins 
for  all  their  unfaithfulnesses,  both  in  regard  to  the 
French  and  the  Sioux. 

Some  young  Mascoutin  warriors  arrived  at  the 
cabin  while  this  was  taking  place,  who  reported 
that  the  chief  was  wanted  at  the  village,  as  his 
people  had  discovered  the  army  of  the  Sioux  at  the 
lead  mine. 

The  messengers  had  no  trouble  to  make  them 
selves  heard,  and  the  chief  of  the  village  ran  about 
calling  the  scattered  people  to  proceed  quickly  to 
build  a  fort. 

When  this  took  place  (1694)  Na-nan-gous-sis-ta 
and  Mac-i-ton-ga  were  the  chiefs  of  Maramech,  one 
of  them,  no  doubt,  the  war-chief,  and  it  was  he  who 
commanded  the  people  of  Maramech  to  hasten  to 
protect  themselves.  It  seems  probable  that  the 
denizens  of  the  scattered  village  hastened  to  the 
hill,  found  by  me  to  be  historic,  and  there  began 
the  fort  that,  thirty  years  afterward,  when  finished 
by  the  Foxes,  made  a  temporary  shelter.  We  shall 
never  know  to  what  extent  history  was  made  on 
Maramech  hill.  It  is  probable  that  at  the  eastern 
side,  where  the  ditch  is  deepest,  the  Miamis  began 


190  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  work.  Fragments  of  three  events  only  are 
known.  Perrot  was  chosen  to  command  at  Mara- 
mech  in  1692,  and  it  seems  possible  that  the  fort  had 
already  been  commenced  at  the  time  his  responsi 
bilities  at  the  village  began. 

Soon  after  the  fears  of  the  approach  of  the  Sioux 
had  subsided  the  Frenchmen  departed  for  Green 
Bay  and  were  escorted  by  many  people  of  the  village. 
Before  debarking  at  The  Bay  the  Frenchmen  em 
ployed  themselves  in  successful  attempts  to  influ 
ence  the  Foxes  to  deliver  the  Sioux  prisoners.  The 
Foxes  were  presented  two  Iroquois  by  the  Miamis 
of  Chicagou;  policy  prevented  them  from  applying 
the  torch  because  they  hoped  that  in  case  the  Sioux 
attacked  their  village  they  could  throw  themselves 
with  their  families  upon  the  Iroquois,  who  had  long 
wished  them  to  join  in  a  war  against  the  French. 
The  Foxes  had  long  known  that  all  the  neighboring 
nations  wished  their  entire  destruction.  The  Sau- 
teurs  had  been  pillaged,  the  French  brutalized,  and 
all  the  allies  insulted.  The  Foxes  sent  a  chief  with 
the  two  prisoners,  whom  they  freed,  to  ask  that  the 
Iroquois  meet  them  on  the  river  St.  Joseph;  they 
wished  the  Mascoutins  to  join  them,  in  which  case 
they  would  have  been  able  to  raise  a  body  of  nine 
hundred  warriors  to  march  against  the  Miamis  and 
Illinois.  A  son  of  the  Fox  chief,  however,  was 
friendly  to  the  French,  and  insisted  upon  going 
with  the  many  delegates  from  the  western  tribes  to 
Montreal  to  confer  with  the  Governor  of  New 
France.  The  return  of  the  son  of  the  Fox  chief 
from  Montreal  made  a  great  impression  upon  the 
tribes,  however,  very  favorable  to  the  French. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  191 

The  Foxes  seem  sometimes  to  have  been  driven 
to  drastic  measures  and  arguments  most  convincing. 
At  one  time,  while  a  party  of  French  traders  were 
in  the  Sioux  country,  some  Foxes  brought  some 
hatchets  to  The  Bay  for  repair.  They  forced  a 
Jesuit  brother  to  put  them  in  order.  The  chief  held 
a  naked  saber  ready  to  kill  him  should  he  object. 
The  brother,  remonstrating  against  the  act,  was 
injured  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  laid  up  for  a 
time.  With  weapons  thus  in  order  the  chief  formed 
an  ambuscade  and  awaited  the  return  of  the  French 
who  had  gone  to  the  Sioux.  "It  is  true  that  all  of 
the  people  of  The  Bay  have  reason  to  complain  that 
one  carries  all  sorts  of  munitions  of  war  to  their 
enemies."  (La  Potherie,  II.,  245.) 

The  French  considered  the  Foxes  mere  footpads 
when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  were  only  exacting 
toll  for  the  right  to  pass  through  their  lands  and 
across  the  portage.  This  tribe  early  became  the 
Ishmaelites  of  the  west.  They  interrupted  the 
western  tribes  that  brought  furs  to  Green  Bay,  and 
the  legitimate  traders,  as  well  as  the  clandestine 
ones,  the  coureurs  du  bois.  Complaints  were  early 
made  of  the  Foxes  by  the  traders  when  passing 
through  their  country  and,  as  the  mild  remedies 
applied  by  the  French  for  many  years  had  failed  to 
cure  the  evil,  arms  were  soon  resorted  to.  The 
trade  with  the  Sioux  was  profitable  to  the  French, 
but  the  great  highway  was  watched  by  the  Foxes 
and  Mascoutins,  neighbors  as  well  as  sometimes 
brothers  in  iniquity,  as  the  French  rightly  believed. 
They  plundered  the  French  under  the  pretense  that 
the  latter  were  carrying  ammunition  to  the  Sioux, 


LOST   MARAMECH 


then,  as  often  before,  their  enemies  That  the 
French  carried  ammunition  to  the  Sioux  is  made 
evident  by  the  very  fact  that  the  Sioux  got  ammu 
nition,  for  they  could  not  have  procured  it  in  any 
other  way.  The  Spanish  could  not  have  approached 
within  a  thousand  miles  of  ^their  hunting-grounds, 
and  the  English  were  effectually  shut  out.  As  early 
as  these  troubles,  more  than  one  of  the  western 
tribes  believed  it  desirable  to  leave  the  country  and 
unite  with  the  Iroquois,  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
the  Sioux  had  become  armed  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  constituted  a  greater  terror  than  the  Iroquois 
had  ever  been,  even  to  the  Hurons.  The  remnants 
of  the  Hurons  were  long  in  league  with  the  Iro 
quois,  only  as  a  matter  of  policy,  and  it  became  a 
question,  even  with  the  Ottawas,  what  had  best  be 
done.  The  Foxes  and  Mascoutins,  mustering 
twelve  hundred  warriors  at  that  time,  had  never 
made  a  general  war  upon  the  French;  but  as  they 
received  no  aid  from  the  latter,  they  were  contem 
plating  joining  the  Iroquois  and  settling  near  them 
as  a  matter  of  protection  from  the  Sioux,  who  had 
made  war  upon  them.*  The  opinion  then  held  by 
the  French  is  found  in  Chain  of  Posts,  p.  121:  "The 
Foxes  are  so  called  because  theirs  is  a  nation  deceit 
ful  and  malicious.  They  are  situated  on  a  very 
beautiful  river  and  in  a  very  good  country  for  all 
purposes.  This  nation  is  powerful,  and  this  is  why 
it  has  become  so  insolent.  I  think  that  if  we  had 
not  had  the  war  with  the  Iroquois  on  hand,  we  would 
have  taken  measures  to  humiliate  them;  they  have 
already  insulted  and  pillaged  the  French  several 
*  Despatches  from  Canada,  N.  Y.  C.  Doc.,  IX,  633. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


193 


times,  and  otherwise  treated  them  indignantly. 
They  do  not  make  war  upon  the  Iroquois,  but  on 
the  contrary,  there  is  some  alliance  between  them. 
It  is  due  to  the  policy  of  this  enemy  of  all  nations 
of  the  New  World  that  they  have  been  able  to  hold 
in  neutrality  one  nation,  amidst  all  the  others,  that 
would  have  been  able  to  disturb  it  much,  if  it  had 
declared  war.  When  affairs  go  badly,  the  Foxes 
interfere  by  undertaking  negotiations,  and  often  suc 
ceed  so  well  that  the  Iroquois  take  breath  in  the 
interval,  because  there  is  no  nation  that  estimates 
itself  happy  that  does  not  pride  itself  on  being 
sought  by  an  enemy  that  makes  all  tremble  so  that 
one  does  not  refuse  the  peace  when  demanded.  The 
Foxes  are  slovenly  and  great  thieves,  and  one  must 
watch  their  feet  as  well  as  their  hands,  for  they  are 
very  adroit  with  them.  They  are  at  war  with  the 
Sioux,  the  Saulteux  [a  branch  of  the  Ojibwas],  and 
make  telling  strokes  on  their  enemies." 

"Chicagou"  (Chicago)  had  become  an  important 
trading  post  at  the  time  Cadillac  was  given  com 
mand  at  Detroit.  He  tells  us  that  the  word  signifies 
"river  of  the  onion,"  because  those  vegetables  grow 
without  care  in  great  quantities.  (Chain  of  Posts, 
123.)  It  is  readily  believed  by  the  dwellers  in  the 
now  great  city  that  such  was  the  origin,  for  wher 
ever  the  native  sod  of  the  suburbs  is  found,  adjacent 
to  the  stream  of  that  name,  the  wild  onion  is  still 
exceedingly  abundant.  Along  the  river  was  a 
Miami  village.  Its  people  were  bold,  good  war 
riors,  and  extremely  alert.  Cadillac  tells  us  that 
they  were  true  bloodhounds,  and  that  they  were 
feared  by  the  Iroquois.  The  nation  was  numerous, 


194  LOST   MARAMECH 

but  divided  into  several  villages  because  of  jealousy 
of  the  leading  men  who  could  not  agree  and,  as  they 
were  haughty  and  warlike,  they  were  inclined  to 
make  war  against  each  other.  Because  of  this  divi 
sion,  their  enemies  destroyed  them  often;  by  being 
disunited  they  risked  destruction.  Where  the 
branches  of  this  tribe  were,  Cadillac  does  not  say, 
but  we  know  that  some  were  near  the  great  Illinois 
village  and  others  were  at  "Malamek''  [Maramech], 
(Chain  of  Posts,  p.  72.)  It  was  with  these  people, 
the  Foxes,  the  Hurons,  and  others  that  the  Iro- 
quois,  in  1694,  demanded,  through  the  French,  a 
treaty  of  peace.  (Chain  of  Posts,  P.  LIII.) 

Perrot  succeeded  in  taking  representatives  of  the 
various  western  tribes  to  hold  council  with  the  Gov 
ernor  of  New  France,  where  the  chief  of  the  Foxes 
had  but  few  words  to  offer.  "What  shall  I  say  to 
my  father?  I  have  come  all  naked  [in  poverty] 
to  see  him.  I  can  give  him  no  assurance.  The 
Sioux  tied  my  arms  and  I  killed  him  because  he 
began.  Father,  be  not  angry  with  me"  for  so  doing. 
I  am  come  here  only  to  hear  you  and  execute  your 
will."  In  reply  to  this  the  Governor  said:  "Fox,  I 
now  speak  to  you;  your  young  men  have  no  sense; 
you  have  a  bad  theart,  but  mine  was  beginning  to 
be  worse  disposed  than  yours,  had  you  not  come  to 
hear  my  word  and  do  my  will.  I  was  resolved  to 
send  Mr.  de  Lamotte  with  a  party  of  my  young  men 
on  a  visit  to  your  village.  That  would  have  been 
unfortunate,  for  no  doubt  your  women  and  children 
would  have  been  frightened  by  them.  I  hope  you 
have  sense  now,  and  that  you  will  smoke  in  peace 
out  of  the  same  calumet  as  the  French  who  are 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  195 

about  to  go  and  see  you."  (N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.,  IX., 
679.) 

The  Governor,  to  conciliate  the  Foxes,  after  the 
distribution  of  presents  among  them,  said:  "No 
more  powder  and  iron  [guns]  will  be  conveyed  to  the 
Sioux,  and  if  my  young  men  carry  any  thither,  I 
will  chastise  them  severely."  In  1701  peace  was 
again  made  between  the  Foxes  and  all  other  nations, 
including  the  Miamis.  The  pipe  of  peace  was 
smoked,  and  the  deputies  from  the  various  tribes 
partook  of  the  feasts  prepared  by  the  French.  The 
Miamis  presented  the  pipe  of  peace,  and  the  Gov 
ernor  then  said  that  it  should  serve  thereafter,  that 
all  who  came  there  willing  to  maintain  peace  might 
smoke  it.  After  the  speech  of  the  Governor  a  rep 
resentative  of  each  nation  spoke  in  reply.  Chichi- 
catato,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Miamis,  said: 
"Father,  I  have  obeyed  you  by  bringing  you  back 
eight  Iroquois  prisoners,  to  do  with  as  you  please; 
had  I  canoes  I  would  have  brought  more,  although 
I  do  not  see  here  any  of  my  people  in  the  hands  of 
the  Iroquois  present.  I  will  bring  you  those  that 
remain,  if  you  wish  it,  or  I  shall  open  the  door  to 
them  that  they  may  return."  Miskeounas,  chief  of 
the  Foxes,  said:  "I  have  no  prisoners  to  surrender 
to  you,  father,  but  I  thank  you  for  the  clear  sky 
[the  new  peace]  you  give  the  whole  world.  For 
myself  I  will  never  lose  this  light." 

We  shall  soon  see  how  well  this  declaration  of 
peace  with  the  Foxes  was  kept  by  the  French.  The 
peace  established  among  these  tribes,  by  the  influ 
ence  of  the  Governor,  was  none  too  soon.  The 
Piankeshaws,  a  branch  of  the  Miamis,  having  been 


ig6  LOST    MARAMECH 

defeated  by  the  Sioux  and  the  lowas,  had  united 
with  the  Kickapoos,  Mascoutins,  Foxes,  and  others, 
a  year  or  two  previous,  with  the  intention  of  aven 
ging  the  injuries  committed  by  the  Sioux.  Follow 
ing  this,  some  or  all  of  the  Foxes  united  with  the 
Sacs,  Pottawatomies,  and  others,  and,  passing  up  the 
Mississippi  river,  encountered  five  Canadians,  whom 
they  wounded,  robbed,  and  left  destitute  with  the 
exception  of  a  poor  gun  and  five  or  six  charges  of 
powder.  The  Canadians  were  on  their  way  to  trade 
with  the  tribes  at  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river.  If 
there  was  any  pillaging  of  the  French,  or  interfer 
ence  of  trade,  on  any  of  the  routes  leading  from 
Canada  to  Louisiana,  the  Foxes  usually  took  a 
hand.  Their  depredations  became  worse  after 
about  the  year  1700.  Le  Sueur,  who  established  a 
trading  post  among  the  Sioux  and  was  getting  his 
supplies  by  the  way  of  the  Great  Lakes,  received 
attentions  from  the  Foxes  and  others  along  the 
Fox  river  of  Wisconsin.  About  1703  a  merchant  of 
Montreal  despatched  an  expedition  to  the  country 
of  the  Sioux  to  join  Le  Sueur.  The  value  of  the 
supplies  was  very  great,  and  it  was  pillaged  by  the 
Foxes. 

Heading  near  the  Wisconsin  river,  and  wandering 
through  a  rich  level  country,  is  the  Fox  river.  The 
lips  of  tradition  are  silent  as  to  the  people  who  had 
already  left  tumuli  along  the  bank  when  Europeans 
first  visited  the  region.  The  great  area  of  small 
lakes  and  ponds  invited  waterfowl  and  fur-bearing 
animals,  and  the  rich  grasses  of  the  broad  prairies 
made  the  region  the  home  of  the  deer  and  buffalo. 
Man  had  long  before  been  there;  a  superior  race,  or 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  197 

a  superior  branch  of  some  of  the  western  tribes,  had 
raised  a  mound  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  near 
Winnebago  lake,  known  as  "Great  Butte  des  Morts" 
(hill  of  the  dead).  Tradition's  echo  tells  that  it  was 
a  burial-place,  as  in  fact  the  presence  of  human 
bones  shows.  One  tradition  informs  us  that  "the 
earth  has  not  only  covered  the  bodies  of  warriors 
slain  in  battle,  but  it  has  been  raised  up  as  a  record 
of  events  disastrous  to  the  Fox  tribe  of  Indians, 
whose  principal  village,  at  an  early  period,  was 
near  this  place  on  the  Fox  river.  This  mound  is 
nevertheless  to  be  considered  as  a  modern  structure, 
because  the  time  of  its  erection,  or  at  least  the  event 
which  it  commemorates,  can  be  referred  to,  if  not 
in  correct  history,  at  least  as  traditionary  accounts. 
Here,  it  is  said,  the  Foxes  had  their  stronghold,  and 
from  this  point  not  only  were  depredatory  excur 
sions  made  against  the  neighboring  tribes,  but  the 
early  French  traders  were  compelled  to  submit  to 
exactions  from  these  Indians  on  their  voyages  along 
the  Fox  river. 

"It  thus  became  necessary  for  the  French  to 
inflict  such  a  punishment  on  the  Fox  tribe  as  should 
be  the  means  of  deterring  them,  in  the  future,  from 
their  depredations  on  the  traders.  Accordingly,  in 
1703,  an  expedition  under  Captain  Morand  was  sent 
from  Mackinaw  against  them,  and  in  the  attack 
upon  them  by  surprise,  at  this,  their  stronghold, 
more  than  one  thousand  of  their  warriors  perished; 
and  the  great  'hill  of  the  dead'  was  raised  over 
their  bones  by  the  survivors  who,  in  a  few  years, 
left  this  part  of  the  country  and  removed  farther  to 
the  west.  Other  accounts  differ  in  regard  to  the 


198  LOST   MARAMECH 

time  when  the  great  battle  was  fought,  which  nearly 
destroyed  the  tribe  and  caused  their  removal;  but  all 
agree  that  the  mound  raised  received  its  significant 
name  from  such  an  event."  (Smith's  Hist.  Wis., 
Ill,  362.) 

I  have  found  nothing  definite  in  regard  to  this 
battle,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  account  may 
be  a  mixture  of  early  and  later  events,  for  we  are 
told  of  a  similar  battle  that  occurred  in  1714. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  siege  of  Detroit  has  been  told  by  several 
whose  accounts  vary  but  little.  The  only  official 
account  at  hand  was  that  of  Du  Buisson,  the  French 
commandant,  sent  to  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil, 
which  follows  (Smith's  Hist.  Wis.,  III.,  315): 

"As  I  thought  it  was  of  great  consequence  to 
inform  you  of  the  state  of  this  post  by  express 
canoe,  I  have  requested  M.  de  Vincennes  to  make 
the  voyage,  having  assured  him  that  this  arrange 
ment  would  be  pleasing  to  you,  persuaded,  as  I  am, 
that  you  are  very  solicitous  about  what  passes  here. 
The  fatigue  I  undergo  day  and  night  in  consequence 
of  the  public  and  private  councils  that  I  hold  with 
the  Indians  preventing  me  from  rendering  you  a 
detailed  account  of  all  the  circumstances. 

"The  destruction  of  the  Mascoutin  and  Fox  vil 
lages  is  one  of  the  principal  reasons  which  induces 
me  to  send  this  express  canoe.  [By  '  Village' '  is  here 
meant  "branches  of  the  tribes."]  It  is  God  who  has 
suffered  these  two  audacious  nations  to  perish. 
They  have  received  many  presents  and  some  belts 
[treaty  belts  of  wampum]  from  the  English,  to 
destroy  the  post  of  Fort  Pontchartrain  [Detroit], 
and  then  to  cut  our  throats  and  those  of  our  allies, 
particularly  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas,  residing  upon 
the  Detroit  river,  and  after  that  these  wretches 
intended  to  settle  among  the  English  and  devote 
themselves  to  their  services.  .  .  ." 

199 


200  LOST   MARAMECH 

Certain  of  the  tribes  had  gone  to  the  Iroquois  and 
established  a  village,  and  it  was  thought  by  the  com 
mandant  that  the  Foxes  would  be  likely  to  do  the 
same;  in  fact,  as  we  shall  see,  a  branch  of  the  Foxes 
attempted  to  carry  this  out  eighteen  years  later. 
Three  canoes  of  Foxes  that  had  been  defeated  by 
the  Chippewas,  some  distance  above  Detroit,  gave 
this  information  to  Du  Buisson,  he  claims.  The 
account  states  that  "the  band  of  the  Great  Chief 
Lamina  and  that  of  the  Great  Chief  Pemoussa  came 
early  in  the  spring  and  encamped,  in  spite  of  my 
opposition,  at  about  fifty  paces  from  my  fort,  never 
willing  to  listen  to  me,  speaking  always  with  much 
insolence  and  calling  themselves  the  owners  of  all 
this  country.  It  was  necessary  for  me  to  be  very 
mild,  having  as  you  know,  sir,  but  thirty  Frenchmen 
with  me,  and  wishing  to  restrain  eight  Miamis  who 
were  with  De  Vincennes,  and  also  to  sow  our  grain 
and  pasture  our  cattle;  and,  besides,  the  Ottawas 
and  Hurons  had  not  come  in  from  their  winter  hunt. 
I  was  thus  exposed  every  day  to  a  thousand  insults. 
The  fowls,  pigeons,  and  other  animals  belonging  to 
the  French  were  killed  without  their  daring  to  say  a 
word,  and,  for  myself,  I  was  in  no  condition  to 
openly  declare  my  intentions.  One  of  their  parties 
entered  my  fort  in  order  to  kill  one  of  the  inhabit 
ants  named  Lagmenesse  and  a  daughter  of  Roy, 
another  inhabitant.  I  could  then  no  longer  restrain 
myself,  but  took  arms  to  prevent  their  accomplish 
ing  their  object.  I  compelled  them  to  retire  imme 
diately  from  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  in  order  to  not 
give  them  time  to  strengthen  their  party,  as  they 
expected  the  Kickapoos,  their  allies,  that  they 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  201 

might  together  execute  their  nefarious  project;  ho 
ping  to  be  strong  enough  to  retire  without  loss  among 
the  English  and  Iroquois,  they  wanted  but  a  favor 
able  moment  to  set  fire  to  the  fort. 

"But  they  were  alarmed  when  they  learned  that 
the  party  of  Mascoutins,  who  had  wintered  upon 
the  head  of  the  St.  Joseph,  had  been  cut  off  to  the 
number  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  women,  and 
children,  by  Saguina,  a  war-chief  of  the  Ottawas, 
and  Pottawatomies.  They  immediately  determined 
to  set  fire  to  an  Ottawa  cabin,  which  was  close  by 
the  gate  of  my  fort.  I  was  informed  of  their  inten 
tion  by  an  Outagamie  [Fox]  Indian  named  Joseph, 
who  long  since  left  his  people  and  came  to  reside 
among  us.  It  was  from  him  I  learned  all  that 
passed  in  the  Outagamie  and  Mascoutin  village. 
He  had  the  honor  to  be  presented  to  you,  sir,  last 
year,  at  Montreal.  He  informed  me  of  the  inten 
tion  to  set  fire  to  my  fort,  and  I  immediately  sent 
an  express  canoe  to  the  hunting-grounds  of  the 
Ottawas  and  Hurons,  to  request  them  to  join  me  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  sent  also  another  canoe  to  the 
other  side  of  the  lake  to  invite  the  Chippeways  and 
Mississaugas  to  join  us. 

"The  church  and  the  house  of  Mr.  Mullet  were 
outside  of  the  fort,  and  all  our  wheat  was  stored 
there.  The  contrary  winds  prevented  our  allies 
from  arriving,  which  troubled  me  much.  As  the 
circumstances  were  now  pressing,  I  prevailed  on  the 
few  Frenchmen  who  were  with  me  immediately  to 
bring  the  wheat  into  the  fort.  And  it  was  well  I 
did  so,  for  two  days  later  it  would  have  been  pil 
laged.  We  had  to  fire  upon  the  enemy  to  secure  it, 


202  LOST   MARAMECH 

and  as  it  was,  they  stole  a  considerable  portion  of  it. 
But  the  principal  object  was  to  pull  down,  as  quickly 
as  possible,  the  church,  the  storehouse,  and  some 
other  houses  which  were  near  my  fort,  and  so  close 
that  the  Indians,  at  any  time,  by  setting  fire  to 
them,  might  have  burnt  our  works.  And,  besides, 
it  was  important,  in  order  to  defend  ourselves  in 
case  of  an  attack,  which  very  soon  took  place.  It 
became  us  to  render  thanks  to  the  Lord  for  His 
mercies.  We  should  have  been  lost  if  I  had  not 
formed  this  determination.  I  put  on  the  best  coun 
tenance  I  could,  encouraging  the  French  who  were 
in  consternation,  believing  themselves  lost.  The 
apprehension  I  entertained  that  some  accident 
might  happen  to  the  French  who  had  not  yet  arrived, 
and  the  necessity  of  sowing  our  grain  and  pasturing 
our  cattle,  prevented  me  from  refusing  them  [the 
hostile  Indians]  permission  to  enter  the  fort  to 
trade,  for  fear  they  should  suspect  I  was  aware  of 
their  object.  The  only  thing  I  could  do  was  to  tell 
them  that  I  apprehended  the  Miamis  would  attack 
me  because  I  permitted  them  to  remain  so  near,  and 
therefore  I  was  about  to  repair  my  fort.  They  did 
not  appear  to  give  much  credit. to  my  assertions. 
Our  men  were  obliged  to  draw  some  posts,  of  which 
the  Indians  had  taken  possession,  in  order  to  repair 
the  fort  as  soon  as  possible,  and  I  succeeded  per 
fectly  well  in  effecting  the  repairs  with  material 
taken  from  some  of  the  houses.  They  wished  to 
preserve  a'  pigeon-house,  from  which  they  might 
have  assailed  us,  but  I  deceived  them  and  took 
possession  of  it.  I  placed  it  immediately  oppo 
site  their  fort,  and  pierced  it  with  loopholes.  I 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  203 

mounted  two  swivels  upon  logs  of  wood,  to  serve 
as  cannon  in  case  of  necessity. 

"The  thirteenth  day  of  May,  while  I  was  impa 
tiently  awaiting  the  arrival  of  my  allies,  who  were 
the  only  aid  I  could  expect,  Mr.  de  Vincennes 
arrived  from  the  Miami  country  with  seven  or  eight 
Frenchmen.  He  brought  me  no  news  of  the 
Indians,  which  gave  me  much  trouble,  and  I  did  not 
know  on  jvvhat  saint  to  call.  But  heaven  watched 
over  our  preservation,  and  when  I  least  expected  it, 
there  came  a  Huron,  all  breathless,  who  said  to  me: 
'My  father,  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  in  secret.  I  am 
sent  to  you  by  our  peace  chiefs.'  There  were  then 
in  their  villages  but  seven  or  eight  men.  It  seems 
that  our  deliverance  was  miraculous,  for  all  others 
arrived  two  hours  after,  and  the  Ottawas  also.  The 
messenger  said,  'God  has  pity  on  you;  He  has 
decreed  that  your  enemies  and  ours  should  perish.  I 
bring  you  information  that  four  men  have  just 
arrived  at  our  fort,  not  daring  to  enter  yours  on 
account  of  the  Outagamies  and  Mascoutins  who  sur 
round  you.  Makisabie,  war-chief  of  the  Pottawato- 
mies,  and  his  brother,  Tehamasimon,  are  at  their 
head  and  desire  to  counsel  with  you.' 

"I  requested  Mr.  de  Vincennes  to  meet  them, 
and  he  recognized  at  once  the  four  Indians.  He 
returned  an  hour  after,  to  render  me  an  account  of 
the  interview  and  told  me,  on  the  part  of  Makisabie, 
that  six  hundred  men  would  soon  arrive  to  aid  me, 
and  to  eat  those  miserable  nations  who  had  troubled 
all  the  country;  that  it  was  necessary  to  keep  myself 
on  my  guard  against  the  Outagamies  and  Mascoutins, 
who  might  learn  of  the  expected  arrival  of  assistance. 


204  LOST   MARAMECH 

"I  requested  Mr.  de  Vincennes  to  return  to  the 
Huron  fort  and  ascertain  from  Makisabie  if  it  would 
not  be  satisfactory  to  his  people  to  content  them 
selves  with  driving  away  the  Mascoutins  and  the 
Outagamies  and  compel  them  to  return  to  their 
former  villages,  which,  sir,  was  your  intention. 
But  this  could  not  be  done,  for  the  Hurons  were  too 
much  irritated.  This  great  affair  had  been  too  well 
concerted  during  the  whole  autumn  and  winter, 
with  all  the  nations.  Mr.  de  Vincennes,  perceiv 
ing  it  would  only  irritate  the  Hurons  to  speak  of 
accommodation,  dropped  the  subject  and  the  more 
readily  as  they  said  these  wicked  men  never  kept 
their  word.  Nothing  else  was  done  but  to  be  silent 
and  put  the  best  face  on  the  affair,  while  we  fought 
with  them  against  our  enemies.  The  Hurons  even 
reproached  us  with  being  tired  of  living,  as  we  knew 
the  bad  intentions  of  the  Outagamies  and  Mascou 
tins.  They  said  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
destroy  them  and  to  extinguish  their  fire,  and  it 
was  your  intention  they  should  perish.  They  added 
that  they  knew  your  views  on  this  subject  at  Mon 
treal. 

"Mr.  de  Vincennes  returned  and  told  me  it  was 
useless  to  speak  of  any  accommodation.  And  in  truth 
I  well  knew  there  was  great  danger  in  having  so 
many  nations  around  us  of  whose  good  intentions 
we  were  not  certain.  I  then  closed  the  gates  of  the 
fort  and  divided  my  Frenchmen  into  four  brigades, 
each  having  its  brigadier.  I  inspected  their  arms 
and  ammunition  and  assigned  them  their  stations 
on  the  bastions.  I  put  four  of  them  into  the 
redoubt  I  had  just  constructed.  I  placed  some  of 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  205 

them  at  the  two  curtains  which  were  most  exposed, 
and  armed  them  with  spears.  My  two  cannon  were 
all  ready,  with  slugs  of  iron  prepared  to  load  them 
with,  which  had  been  made  by  the  blacksmith.  Our 
reverend  father  held  himself  ready  to  give  general 
absolution  in  case  of  necessity,  and  to  assist  the 
wounded  if  there  should  be  any.  He  communicated 
also  the  Sacred  Host. 

"Every  arrangement  being  made,  and  while  we 
were  waiting  with  impatience,  I  was  informed  that 
there  were  many  people  in  sight.  I  immediately 
ascended  a  bastion,  and  casting  my  eyes  toward  the 
woods  I  saw  the  army  of  the  nations  of  the  south  issu 
ing  from  it.  They  were  the  Illinois,  the  Missouris, 
the  Osages,  and  other  nations  yet  more  remote. 
There  were  also  with  them  the  Ottawa  chief  Saguina, 
and  also  the  Pottawatomies,  the  Sacs,  and  some 
Menomenies.  Detroit  never  saw  such  a  collection 
of  people.  It  is  surprising  how  much  all  these 
nations  are  irritated  against  the  Mascoutins  and  the 
Outagamies.  This  army  marched  in  good  order, 
with  as  many  flags"  as  there  were  different  nations, 
and  it  proceeded  directly  to  the  fort  of  the  Hurons. 
These  Indians  ^said  to  the  head  chief  of  [the  army, 
'You  must  not  encamp.  Affairs  are  too  pressing. 
We  must  enter  immediately  into  our  father's  fort 
and  fight  for  him.  As  he  has  always  had  pity  on]us, 
and  as  he  loves  us,  we  ought  to  die  for  him.  And 
don't  you  see  that  smoke  also?  They  are  the  women 
of  your  village,  Saguina,  who  are  burning  there,  and 
your  wife  is  among  them.'  Not  another  word  was 
necessary.  There  arose  a  great  cry,  and  at  the 
same  time  they  all  began  to  run,  having  the  Hurons 


206  LOST   MARAMECH 

and  the  Ottawas  at  their  head.  The  Outagamies 
and  the  Mascoutins  raised  also  their  war  cry,  and 
about  forty  of  them  issued  from  their  fort,  all  naked 
and  well  armed,  running  to  meet  our  Indians  and  to 
brave  them,  in  order  to  make  them  believe  they 
were  not  afraid.  They  were  obliged,  however,  to 
retreat  immediately,  and  to  return  to  their  village. 
Our  Indians  requested  permission  to  enter  my  fort, 
which  I  granted,  seeing  they  were  much  excited. 
It  was  my  design  they  should  encamp  near  the 
woods,  that  they  might  not  be  troublesome  to  us. 
All  the  Indian  chiefs  assembled  upon  the  parade 
ground  of  my  fort  and  spoke  to  me  as  follows:  'My 
father,  I  speak  to  you  on  the  part  of  all  the  nations, 
your  children,  who  are  before  you.  What  you  did 
last  year  in  drawing  their  flesh  from  the  fire,  which 
the  Outagamies  were  about  to  roast  and  eat,  well 
merits  that  we  should  bring  you  our  bodies.  So 
make  you  the  master  of  them,  they  to  do  all  you 
wish.  We  do  not  fear  death,  whenever  it  is  neces 
sary  to  die  for  you.  We  have  only  to  request  that 
you  pray  the  father  of  all  nations  to  have  pity 
on  our  women  and  our  children  in  case  we  lose  our 
lives  with  you.  We  beg  you  to  throw  a  blade  of 
grass  upon  our  bones  to  protect  them  from  the  flies. 
You  see,  my  father,  that  we  have  abandoned  our  vil 
lages,  our  women,  and  our  children,  to  hasten  as 
soon  as  possible  to  join  you.  We  hope  that  you 
will  have  pity  on  us  and  that  you  will  give  us  some 
thing  to  eat  and  a  little  tobacco  to  smoke.  We 
have  come  from  a  distance  and  are  destitute  of 
everything;  we  hope  you  will  give  us  powder  and 
balls  to  fight  with  you.  We  don't  make  a  great 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  207 

speech.  We  perceive  that  we  fatigue  you  and  your 
people  by  the  ardor  which  you  ^show  for  the  fight.' 

"I  immediately  answered  them,  and  briefly:  'I 
thank  you,  my  children;  the  determination  that  you 
have  taken  to  offer  to  die  with  us  is  very  agreeable 
to  me  and  causes  me  much  pleasure.  I  recognize 
you  as  the  true  children  of  the  Governor-General, 
and  I  shall  not  fail  to  render  him  account  of  all  that 
you  have  done  for  me  to-day.  You  need  not  doubt 
that  when  any  question  respecting  your  interest 
arises,  he  will  regard  it  favorably.  I  receive  orders 
from  him  every  day  to  watch  continually  for  the 
preservation  of  his  children.  With  regard  to  your 
necessities,  I  know  you  want  everything.  The  fire 
which  has  just  taken  place  is  unlucky  for  you  as 
well  as  for  me.  I  will  do  all  I  can  to  provide  you 
with  what  you  want.  I  beg  you  to  live  in  peace, 
union,  and  good  intelligence  together,  as  well 
among  your  different  nations  as  with  the  French 
people.  This  will  be  the  best  means  of  enabling  us 
to  defeat  our  common  enemies.  Take  courage, 
then;  inspect  and  repair  your  war  clubs,  your  bows 
and  arrows,  and  especially  your  guns.  I  shall  sup 
ply  you  with  powder  and  balls  immediately,  and 
then  will  attack  our  enemies.  This  is  all  I  have  to 
say  to  you.' 

"All  the  Indians  uttered  a  cry  of  joy  and  of 
thanks  and  said:  'Our  enemies  are  dead  from  the 
present  moment.  The  heavens  begin  to  grow  clear, 
and  the  Master  of  Life  has  pity  on  us.' 

"All  the  old  men  made  harangues  through  the 
fort  to  encourage  the  warriors,  telling  them  to  listen 
to  my  words  and  strictly  obey  all  my  orders.  I  dis- 


208  LOST   MARAMECH 

tributed  among  them  immediately  a  quantity  of 
balls  and  powder,  and  then  we  all  raised  the  war 
cry.  The  very  earth  trembled.  The  enemy,  who 
were  not  more  than  a  pistol-shot  distant,  raised  also 
their  war  cry  at  the  same  time.  The  guns  were 
immediately  discharged  on  both  sides,  and  the 
balls  flew  like  hail. 

"We  had  to  do  as  our  Indians  did  in  order  to 
encourage  them.  The  powder  and  balls  that  you 
had  the  goodness  to  send  us,  sir,  the  past  autumn, 
did  not  last  long.  I  was  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  three  barrels  that  Mr.  de  Lamothe  left  with  a  cer 
tain  Roy  to  sell,  not  leaving  me  a  single  grain  when 
he  went  away  for  the  defense  of  the  fort  in  case  of 
an  attack.  All  mine  was  exhausted,  as  well  as  a 
quantity  which  I  had  been  obliged  to  purchase  of 
some  of  the  French  people. 

"I  held  the  Outagamies  and  the  Mascoutins  in  a 
state  of  siege  during  nineteen  days,  wearing  them 
out  by  a  continual  fire  night  and  day.  In  order  to 
avoid  our  fires  they  were  obliged  to  dig  holes  four 
or  five  feet  deep  in  the  ground  to  shelter  them 
selves.  I  had  erected  two  high  scaffolds,  twenty 
feet  high,  the  better  to  fire  into  their  village.  They 
could  not  go  out  for  water,  and  they  were  exhausted 
by  hunger  and  thirst.  I  had  from  four  to  five  hun 
dred  ^men,  who  blockaded  their  village  night  and 
day,  so  that  no  'one  could  issue  to  seek  assistance. 
All  our  Indians  went  and  hid  themselves  at  the  edge 
of  the  woods,  whence  they  continually  returned  with 
prisoners,  who  came  to  join  their  people,  not  know 
ing  they  were  besieged.  Their  sport  was  to  shoot 
them  or  to  fire  arrows  at  them  and  then  burn  them. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


209 


"The  enemy  that  I  had  kept  besieged,  thinking 
to  intimidate  me  and  by  this  means  to  have  the 
field  left  open  to  them,  covered  their  palisades  with 
scarlet  blankets  and  then  hallooed  to  me  that  they 
wished  the  earth  was  all  colored  with  blood;  these 
red  blankets  were  the  mark  of  it.  They  hoisted 
twelve  red  blankets  as  standards  in  twelve  different 
places  of  their  village.  I  well  knew  that  these  sig 
nals  were  English  and  that  they  fought  for  the  Eng 
lish.  This,  indeed,  they  told  us,  for  we  could  speak 
from  one  fort  to  the  other.  They  said  they  had  no 
father  but  the  English,  and  told  all  the  nations,  our 
allies,  that  they  would  do  much  better  to  quit  our 
side  and  join  theirs. 

"The  great  war  chief  of  the  Pottawatomies,  after 
having  requested  my  advice  and  permission, 
mounted  one  of  my  scaffolds  and  spoke  to  our  ene 
mies  in  the  name  of  all  our  nations  in  these  words: 
'Wicked  nations  that  you  are,  you  hope  to  frighten 
us  by  all  that  red  color  which  you  exhibit  in  your 
village.  Learn  that  if  the  earth  is  covered  with 
blood,  it  will  be  yours.  You  speak  to  us  of  the 
English;  they  are  the  cause  of  your  destruction, 
because  you  have  listened  to  their  bad  counsel. 
They  are  enemies  of  prayer,  and  it  is  for  that  reason 
that  the  Master  of  Life  chastises  them  as  well  as 
you,  wicked  men  that  you  are;  don't  you  know  as 
well  as  we  do,  that  the  father  of  all  the  nations, 
who  is  at  Montreal,  sends  continually  parties  of  his 
young  men  against  the  English  to  make  war,  and 
who  took  so  many  prisoners  that  they  do  not  know 
what  to  do  with  them?  The  English,  who  are 
cowards,  only  defend  themselves  by  secretly  killing 


210  LOST   MARAMECH 

men  by  that  wicked  strong  drink,  which  has  caused 
so  many  men  to  die  immediately  after  drinking  it. 
Thus  we  shall  see  what  will  happen  to  you  for  hav 
ing  listened  to  them.' 

"I  was  obliged  to  stop  this  conversation,  perceiv 
ing  that  the  enemy  had  requested  to  speak  merely 
to  attract  our  attention  while  they  went  for  water. 
I  ordered  our  great  fire  to  recommence,  which  was 
so  violent  that  we  killed  more  than  twenty  men  and 
some  women  who  had  secretly  gone  out  for  water. 
I  lost  that  day  twelve  men  who  were  killed  in  my 
fort.  The  enemy,  in  spite  of  my  opposition,  had 
taken  possession  of  a  house,  where  they  had  erected 
a  scaffold  behind  the  gable  end,  which  was  of  earth. 
Our  balls  could  not  penetrate  this  defense,  and  thus 
every  day  many  of  our  people  were  killed.  This 
obliged  me  to  raise  one  of  my  scaffolds,  the  two 
large  logs  upon  which  were  mounted  our  swivels. 
I  loaded  them  with  slugs  and  caused  them  to  be  fired 
upon  the  scaffold  which  troubled  me  so  much.  They 
were  so  well  aimed  that  at  the  first  two  discharges 
we  heard  the  scaffolds  fall,  and  some  of  the  enemy 
were  killed.  They  were  so  frightened  that  we  heard 
them  utter  cries  and  frightful  groans,  and  toward 
evening  they  called  out  to  know  if  I  would  allow 
them  to  come  and  speak  to  me.  I  assembled  imme 
diately  the  chiefs  of  all  the  nations  who  were  with 
me  to  ascertain  their  opinion,  and  we  agreed  it  was 
best  to  listen  to  them  in  order,  by  some  strategy,  to 
withdraw  from  them  three  of  our  women  whom  they 
had  made  prisoners  some  days  before  the  siege,  and 
one  of  whom  was  the  wife  of  the  great  war  chief 
Saguina.  I  told  them,  through  my  interpreter,  that 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  211 

they  might  come  in  safety  to  speak  to  me,  as  I  was 
willing  they  should  have  that  satisfaction  before 
dying. 

"They  did  not  fail,  the  next  morning,  to  make 
me  a  visit.  We  were  very  much  surprised  not  to 
see  the  red  flag  in  their  village,  but  only  a  white 
flag.  It  was  the  great  chief  Pemoussa  who  was  at 
the  head  of  this  first  embassy.  He  came  out  of  his 
village  with  two  other  Indians,  carrying  a  white 
flag  in  his  hand.  I  sent  my  interpreter  to  meet 
him  and  conduct  him  to  me,  and  to  protect  him 
from  the  insults  of  some  of  the  young  warriors.  He 
entered  my  fort;  I  placed  him  in  the  midst  of  the 
parade-ground,  and  then  I  assembled  all  the  chiefs 
of  the  nations  who  were  with  me  to  hear  our  ambas 
sador,  who  spoke  in  these  words  (presenting  a  belt 
of  wampum  and  two  slaves).  'My  father,  I  am  dead; 
I  see  very  well  that  the  heaven  is  clear  and  beauti 
ful  for  you  only,  and  that  for  me  it  is  altogether 
dark.  When  I  left  my  village  I  hoped  that  you 
would  willingly  listen  to  me.  I  demand  of  you,  my 
father,  by  this  belt,  which  I  lay  at  your  feet,  that 
you  have  pity  on  your  children  and  that  you  do  not 
refuse  them  the  two  days  that  they  ask  you  in  which 
there  shall  be  no  firing  on  either  side,  that  our  old 
men  may  hold  council  to  find  the  means  of  turning 
away  your  wrath. 

'  'It  is  to  you  that  I  now  speak,  you  other  chil 
dren,  listening  to  the  advice  of  our  father;  this  belt 
is  to  pray  you  to  recollect  that  you  are  our  kindred. 
If  you  shed  our  blood,  recollect  that  it  is  your  own; 
endeavor,  then,  to  soften  the  heart  of  our  father, 
whom  we  have  so  often  offended. 


212  LOST   MARAMECH 

'These  two  slaves  are  to  replace  a  little  blood 
that  you  have  lost.  I  do  not  speak  many  words 
until  our  old  men  can  counsel  together,  if  you  grant 
us  those  two  days  that  I  have  asked  of  you.' 

"I  answered  him  thus:  'If  your  hearts  were  prop 
erly  moved  and  if  you  truly  considered  the  Gov 
ernor  at  Montreal  as  your  father,  you  would  have 
begun  by  bringing  with  you  the  three  women  whom 
you  hold  as  prisoners;  not  having  done  so,  I  believe 
your  hearts  are  yet  bad.  If  you  expect  me  to  listen 
to  you,  begin  by  bringing  them  here.  This  is  all  I 
have  to  say.' 

"All  the  chiefs  who  were  with  me  exclaimed  with 
a  high  voice:  'My  father,  after  what  you  have  just 
said,  we  have  nothing  to  answer  to  this  ambassador. 
Let  him  obey  you  if  he  wishes  to  live.' 

"The  ambassador  answered:  'I  am  only  a  child. 
I  shall  return  to  my  village  to  render  an  account  of 
what  you  have  said  to  our  old  men.' 

"Thus  finished  the  council.  I  gave  him  three  or 
four  Frenchmen  to  reconduct  him,  assuring  him  that 
we  would  not  fire  upon  his  village  during  the  day, 
on  condition,  however,  that  no  one  should  leave  it  to 
seek  water,  and  that  if  they  did  so  the  truce  should 
be  at  an  end  and  we  should  fire  upon  them. 

"Two  hours  after,  three  chiefs,  two  of  the  Mascou- 
tins,  and  the  third  an  Outagamie,  came  bearing  a 
flag  and  bringing  with  them  the  three  women.  I 
made  them  enter  into  the  same  place  where  the 
others  were  stationed  and  where  all  our  chiefs  were 
again  assembled.  The  three  messengers  spoke  as 
follows:  'My  father,  here  are  these  three  pieces  of 
flesh  that  you  ask  of  us.  We  would  not  eat  them, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


213 


thinking  you  would  call  us  to  an  account  for  it. 
Do  what  you  please  with  them.  You  are  the  master. 
Now,  we  Mascoutins  and  Outagamies  request  that 
you  cause  all  the  nations  who  are  with  you  to  retire 
in  order  that  we  may  freely  seek  provisions  for  our 
women  and  our  children.  Many  die  every  day  of 
hunger.  All  our  village  regrets  that  we  have  dis 
pleased  you.  If  you  are  as  good  a  father  as  all  your 
children  who  are  around  you  say  you  are,  you  will 
not  refuse  the  favor  we  ask  of  you.' 

"As  I  had  now  the  three  women  whom  I  sought, 
1  did  not  care  any  longer  to  keep  fair  with  them, 
and  I  therefore  answered:  'If  you  had  eaten  my 
flesh  which  you  have  now  brought  to  me,  you  would 
not  have  been  living  at  this  moment.  You  would 
have  felt  such  terrible  coils  that  they  would  have 
covered  you  so  deep  in  the  ground  that  no  one  would 
any  longer  speak  of  you,  so  true  is  it  that  I  love  the 
father  of  all  the  nations.  With  regard  to  the 
liberty  that  you  demand,  I  leave  it  to  my  children  to 
answer  you.  Therefore,  I  shall  not  say  any  more.' 

"The  head  chief  of  the  Illinois,  whose  name  is 
Makouandeby,  was  appointed  by  the  chiefs  of  the 
other  nations  to  speak  in  these  words:  'My  father, 
we  all  thank  you  for  your  kindness  to  us;  we  thank 
you  for  it,  and  since  you  give  us  permission  to  speak 
we  shall  do  so.' 

"And  then,  addressing  the  hostile  chiefs,  he  said: 
'Now,  listen  to  me,  ye  nations  who  have  troubled 
all  the  earth.  We  perceive  clearly,  by  your  words, 
that  you  seek  only  to  surprise  our  father  and  to 
deceive  him  again  in  demanding  that  we  should 
retire.  We  should  no  sooner  do  that  than  you 


2i4  L0ST   MARAMECH 

would  again  torment  our  father  and  you  would 
infallibly  shed  his  blood.  You  are  dogs  who  have 
always  bitten  him.  You  have  never  been  sensible 
of  the  favors  you  have  received  from  all  the  French. 
You  have  thought,  wretches  that  you  are,  that  we 
did  not  know  all  the  speeches  you  have  received 
from  the  English,  telling  you  to  cut  the  throats  of 
our  father  and  of  his  children  and  then  to  lead  the 
English  into  this  country.  Go  away,  then.  For 
us,  we  will  not  stir  a  step  from  you;  we  are  deter 
mined  to  die  with  our  father;  we  should  disobey 
him;  because  we  know  your  bad  hearts  and  we  would 
not  leave  him  alone  with  you.  We  shall  see  from 
this  moment  who  will  be  master,  you  or  us;  you 
have  now  only  to  retire  and  as  soon  as  you  shall 
reenter  your  fort  we  shall  fire  upon  you.' 

"I  sent  an  escort  to  conduct  the  ambassadors  to 
their  fort,  and  we  began  to  fire  again  as  usual.  We 
were  three  or  four  days  without  any  intercourse, 
firing  briskly  on  both  sides.  The  enemy  discharged 
their  arrows  so  rapidly  that  more  than  three  or  four 
hundred  were  flying  at  the  same  time,*  and  at  their 
ends  were  lighted  fuses;  the  object  being  to  burn  us, 
as  they  had  threatened  to  do.  I  found  myself  very 
much  embarrassed;  the  arrows  fell  upon  all  our 
quarters,  which  were  covered  with  straw,  so  that 
the  fire  easily  caught  many  of  them,  which  fright 
ened  the  French  so  much  that  they  thought  every 
thing  was  lost.  I  reassured  them,  telling  them 
that  this  was  nothing  and  that  we  must  find  a  remedy 

*  This  statement  shows  that  Du  Buisson  was  something  of  a 
romancer,  and  it  may  well  caution  us  to  take  many  of  the 
other  statements  as  possible  exaggerations. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


215 


as  soon  as  possible.  'Come,  then,'  said  I,  'take 
courage;  let  us  take  off  the  thatch  from  the  houses 
and  let  us  cover  them  with  bearskins  and  deer 
skins;  our  Indians  will  help  us.'  I  then  directed 
them  to  bring  in  two  large  wooden  pirogues,  which 
I  filled  with  water  and  provided  badrouilles  at  the 
ends  of  rods  to  [extinguish  the  fire  when  it  should 
break  out  anywhere,  and  hooks  to  pull  out  the 
arrows.  There  were  four  or  five  Frenchmen  who 
were  wounded.  I  fell  into  another  embarrassment 
much  greater  than  this;  my  Indians  became  dis 
couraged  and  wished  to  go  away,  a  part  of  them 
saying  that  we  should  never  conquer  those  nations; 
that  they  knew  them  well,  and  that  they  were  braver 
than  any  other  people;  and  besides,  I  could  no 
longer  furnish  them  with  provisions. 

"This  inconstancy  ought  to  teach  us  how  danger 
ous  it  is  to  leave  a  post  so  distant  as  this  without 
troops.  I  then  saw  myself  on  the  point  of  being 
abandoned  and  left  a  prey  to  our  enemies,  who 
would  not  have  granted  us  any  quarter,  and  the 
English  would  have  triumphed. 

"The  French  were  so  frightened  that  they  told 
me  they  saw  clearly  it  was  necessary  we  should 
retire  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Michilimacinac. 
I  said  to  them:  'What  are  you  thinking  of?  Is  it 
possible  you  can  entertain  such  sentiments?  What! 
abandon  a  post  in  such  a  cowardly  manner?  Dis 
miss  such  thoughts,  my  friends,  from  your  minds. 
Do  things  appear  so  bad?  You  ought  to  know  that 
if  you  should  abandon  me  the  Governor-General 
would  follow  you  everywhere  to  punish  you  for  your 
cowardice.  What  the  Indians  have  just  said  ought 


216  LOST   MARAMECH 

not  to  frighten  you.  I  am  going  to  speak  to  all  the 
chiefs  in  private  and  inspire  them  with  new  cour 
age.  Therefore,  change  your  views  and  let  me  act, 
and  you  will  see  that  everything  will  go  well.' 
They  answered  me  that  they  did  not  think  of  retir 
ing  without  my  consent  nor  without  me  at  their 
head,  believing  that  we  could  not  hold  the  place  if 
our  Indians  should  abandon  us.  They  begged  me 
to  pardon  them  and  assured  me  they  would  do  all  I 
wished.  And,  truly,  I  was  afterward  very  well  con 
tented  with  them.  They  did  their  duty  like  brave 
people. 

"I  was  four  days  and  four  nights  without  taking 
any  repose  and  without  eating  and  drinking,  striving 
all  the  time  to  secure  to  my  interest  all  the  young 
war  chiefs  in  order  to  keep  the  warriors  firm,  and 
to  encourage  them  so  that  they  would  not  quit  us 
until  our  enemies  were  defeated.  To  succeed  in 
this  object  I  stripped  myself  of  all  I  had,  making 
presents  to  one  and  another.  You  know,  sir,  that 
with  the  Indians  one  must  not  be  mean.  I  flatter 
myself  that  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  approve 
all  expenditures,  which  for  me  are  immense,  and 
for'  the  King  of  no  consequence;  for  otherwise  I 
should  be  very  much  to  be  pitied,  having  a  large 
family,  which  occasions  me  a  great  expense  at 
Quebec. 

"Having  gained  all  the  Indians  in  private,  I  held 
a  general  council,  to  which  I  called  all  the  nations, 
and  said  to  them:  'What,  my  children,  when  you  are 
just  on  the  point  of  destroying  these  wicked  nations, 
do  you  think  of  retreating  shamefully  after  having 
so  well  begun?  Could  you  lift  up  your  heads 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  217 

again?  You  would  be  overwhelmed  with  confusion. 
All  the  other  nations  would  say,  Are  these  the 
brave  warriors  who  fled  so  ignominiously  after  hav 
ing  abandoned  the  French?  Be  not  troubled;  take 
courage;  we  will  endeavor  yet  to  find  a  few  provi 
sions.  The  Hurons  and  the  Ottawas,  your  brothers, 
offer  you  some.  1  will  do  all  I  can  to  comfort  you 
and  to  aid  you.  Don't  you  see  that  our  enemies 
can  hardly  preserve  their  position?  Hunger  and 
thirst  overpower  them.  We  shall  quickly  render 
ourselves  masters  of  their  bodies.  Will  it  not  be 
pleasant,  after  such  a  result,  when  you  visit  Mon 
treal,  to  receive  there  the  thanks  and  friendship  of 
the  father  of  all  nations,  who  will  thank  you  for 
having  risked  your  lives  with  me?  For  you  cannot 
doubt  that  in  the  report  I  shall  make  to  him  I  shall 
render  justice  to  each  of  you  for  all  you  will  have 
done.  You  must  also  be  aware  that  to  defeat  these 
two  nations  is  to  give  that  life  and  peace  to  your 
women  and  children  which  they  have  not  yet 
enjoyed.' 

"The  young  war  chiefs  whom  I  had  gained  did 
not  give  me  time  to  finish,  but  said  to  me:  'My 
father,  allow  us  to  interrupt  you;  we  believe  there 
is  some  liar  who  has  told  you  falsehoods.  We 
assure  you  that  we  all  love  you  too  much  to  abandon 
you,  and  we  are  not  such  cowards  as  is  reported. 
We  are  resolved,  even  if  we  are  much  more  pressed 
with  hunger,  not  to  quit  you  till  your  enemies  are 
utterly  destroyed.'  All  the  old  men  approved  of 
these  sentiments  and  said:  'Come  on,  come  on,  let 
us  hasten  to  arm  ourselves  and  prove  that  those  are 
liars  who  have  reported  evil  of  us  to  our  father.' 


218  LOST   MARAMECH 

They  then  raised  a  great  cry  and  sung  the  war  song, 
and  danced  the  war  dance,  and  a  large  party  went 
to  fight. 

"Every  day  some  Sacs,  who  had  lived  some  time 
with  the  Outagamies,  left  their  fort  and  came  to  join 
their  people  who  were  with  me,  and  who  received 
them  with  much  pleasure.  They  made  known  to  us 
the  condition  of  our  enemies,  assuring  us  that  they 
were  reduced  to  the  last  extremity;  that  from  sixty 
to  eighty  women  and  children  had  died  from  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  that  their  bodies  and  the  bodies  of 
those  who  were  killed  everyday  caused  an  infection 
in  their  camp,  as  they  could  not  inter  their  dead  in 
consequence  of  the  heavy  fire  that  we  continually 
kept  up. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  they  demanded  per 
mission  to  speak  to  us,  which  was  granted.  Their 
messengers  were  their  two  great  chiefs,  one  of 
peace,  the  other  of  war;  the  first  named  Allamima 
and  the  other  Pemoussa.  With  them  were  two  great 
Mascoutin  chiefs,  one  Kuit  and  the  other  Onabi- 
maniton.  Pemoussa  was  at  the  head  of  the  three 
others,  having  a  crown  of  wampum  upon  his  head 
and  many  belts  of  wampum  on  his  body,  and  hung 
over  his  shoulders.  He  was  painted  with  green 
earth,  and  supported  by  seven  female  slaves,  who 
were  also  painted  and  covered  with  wampum.  The 
three  other  chiefs  had  each  a  Chichory  in  their 
hands.  All  of  them  marched  in  order,  singing  and 
shouting  with  all  their  might,  to  the  song  of  the 
Chichories,  calling  all  the  devils  to  their  assistance, 
and  to  have  pity  on  them.  They  had  even  figures 
of  little  devils  hanging  on  their  girdles.  They 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  219 

entered  my  fort  in  this  manner  and,  when  being 
placed  in  the  midst  of  the  nations,  our  allies,  they 
spoke  as  follows:  'My  father,  I  speak  to  you,  and 
to  all  the  nations  who  are  before  you.  I  come  to 
you  to  demand  life.  It  is  no  longer  ours.  You  are 
the  masters  of  it.  All  the  nations  have  abandoned 
us.  I  bring  you  my  flesh  in  the  seven  slaves,  whom 
I  put  at  your  feet.  But  do  not  believe  I  am  afraid 
to  die.  It  is  the  life  of  our  women  and  our  children 
that  I  ask  of  you.  I  beg  you  to  allow  the  sun  to 
shine;  let  the  sky  be  clear,  that  we  can  see  the  day, 
and  that,  hereafter,  our  affairs  may  be  prosperous. 
Here  are  six  belts  that  we  give  you,  which  bind  us 
to  you  like  your  slaves.  Untie  them,  we  beg  you, 
to  show  that  you  give  us  life.  Recollect,  ye 
nations,  that  you  are  our  great  nephews;  tell  us 
something,  I  pray  you,  which  can  give  pleasure  on 
our  return  to  our  village.' 

"I  left  it  to  our  Indians  to  answer  these  ambas 
sadors.  They  were,  however,  so  much  enraged 
against  them  that  they  would  not  give  them  any 
answer.  Eight  or  ten  of  them  asked  permission  to 
speak  to  me  in  private. 

"  'My  father,  we  come  to  ask  liberty  of  you  to 
break  the  heads  of  these  four  great  chiefs.  They 
are  the  men  who  prevent  our  enemies  from  sur 
rendering  at  discretion.  When  these  shall  be  no 
longer  at  their  head  they  will  find  themselves  much 
embarrassed  and  will  surrender.' 

"I  told  them  they  must  be  drunk  to  make  me  such 
a  proposition.  'Recollect  that  they  came  here  upon 
our  word,  and  you  have  given  me  yours.  We  must 
act  with  good  faith,  and  if  such  a  thing  be  done 


220  LOST   MARAMECH 

how  could  you  trust  one  another?  Besides,  if  I 
acquiesced  in  this  proposition  the  Governor-General 
would  never  pardon  me.  Dismiss  it,  therefore, 
from  your  thoughts.  They  must  return  peaceably. 
You  see  clearly  that  they  cannot  avoid  us,  since  you 
resolved  not  to  give  them  quarter.' 

"They  confessed  I  was  right  and  that  they  were 
foolish.  We  dismissed  the  ambassadors  in  all 
safety  without,  however,  giving  them  any  further 
answer.  These  poor  wretches  well  knew  there  was 
no  longer  any  hope  for  them. 

"I  confess,  sir,  that  I  was  touched  with  compas 
sion  at  their  misfortunes;  but  as  war  and  pity  do 
not  well  agree  together  and  particularly  as  I  under 
stood  they  were  paid  by  the  English  for  our  destruc 
tion,  I  abandoned  them  to  their  unfortunate  fate; 
indeed,  I  hastened  to  have  this  tragedy  finished  in 
order  that  the  example  might  strike  terror  to  the 
English  and  to  themselves. 

"The  great  fire  recommenced,  more  and  more 
violently;  the  enemy  being  in  despair,  beaten  in 
their  village  and  out  of  it;  and  when  they  wished  to 
go  for  water  or  to  gather  a  few  herbs,  to  appease 
their  hunger,  had  no  other  recourse  but  an  obscure 
night  with  rain  in  order  to  effect  their  escape.  They 
awaited  it  with  much  impatience,  and  it  came  on 
the  nineteenth  day  of  the  siege.  They  did  not  fail 
to  make  use  of  it,  decamping  about  midnight,  and 
we  did  not  know  of  their  escape  until  daylight.  I 
encouraged  our  people  and  they  pursued  them  very 
vigorously.  Mr.  de  Vincennes  joined  in  the  pur 
suit,  with  some  Frenchmen,  and  this  gave  much 
pleasure  to  the  Indians. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  221 

"The  enemy,  not  doubting  but  that  they  would 
be  pursued,  stopped  at  the  Presq'isle,  which  is  oppo 
site  Hog  island,  near  Lake  St.  Clair,  four  leagues 
from  the  fort. 

"Our  people,  not  perceiving  their  entrenchment, 
pushed  into  it,  and  lost  there  twenty  killed  and 
wounded.  It  was  necessary  to  form  a  second  siege, 
and  also  an  encampment.  The  camp  was  regularly 
laid  out;  there  were  a  hundred  canoes  every  day,  as 
well  Ottawas,  Hurons,  and  Chippeways,  as  Missis- 
sagas  to  carry  provisions  there.  The  chiefs  sent  to 
me  for  two  cannon  and  all  the  axes  and  mattocks 
that  I  had,  to  cut  timber,  and  to  place  it  so  as  to 
approach  the  hostile  entrenchment,  together  with 
powder  and  ball.  As  for  the  Indian  corn,  tobacco, 
and  seasoning,  they  were  supplied  as  usual,  without 
counting  all  the  kettles  of  the  French,  which  are 
now  lost  and  that  I  had  to  pay  for. 

"The  enemy  held  their  position  for  four  days, 
fighting  with  much  courage,  and  finally,  not  being 
able  to  do  anything  more,  surrendered  at  discretion 
to  our  people,  who  gave  them  no  quarter.  All  were 
killed  except  the  women  and  children,  whose  lives 
were  spared,  and  one  hundred  men,  who  had  been 
tied  but  escaped. 

"All  our  allies  returned  to  our  fort  with  their 
slaves,  having  avoided  it  before,  as  they  thought  it 
was  infective.  Their  amusement  was  to  shoot  four 
or  five  of  them  every  day.  The  Hurons  did  not 
spare  a  single  one  of  theirs. 

"In  this  manner  came  to  an  end,  sire,  these  two 
wicked  nations,  who  so  badly  afflicted  and  troubled 
all  the  country.  Our  reverend  father  chanted  a 


222  LOST   MARAMECH 

grand  mass  to  render  thanks  to  God  for  having  pre 
served  us  from  the  enemy. 

"The  Outagamies  and  Mascoutins  had  constructed 
a  very  good  fort  which,  as  I  said,  was  within  pistol 
shot  of  mine.  Our  people  did  not  dare  to  under 
take  to  storm  it,  notwithstanding  all  I  could  say. 
The  works  were  defended  by  three  hundred  men, 
and  our  loss  would  have  been  great  had  we  assaulted 
it;  but  the  siege  would  not  have  been  so  long.  Our 
Indians  lost  sixty  men  killed  and  wounded,  thirty 
of  whom  were  killed  in  the  fort,  and  a  Frenchman 
named  Germain,  and  five  or  six  others  were  wounded 
with  arrows.  The  enemy  lost  a  thousand  souls, 
men,  women,  and  children. 

"I  ought  not  to  forget,  sir,  to  state  that  there  were 
about  twenty-five  Iroquois  who  had  joined  them 
selves  to  the  Hurons  of  Fond  du  Lac  in  this  war. 
These  two  nations  distinguished  themselves  above 
all  the  others  and,  therefore,  their  loss  had  been 
proportionately  greater.  They  received  the  thanks 
of  all  the  Indians  and  more  particularly  of  the  Pot- 
tawatomies,  to  whom  they  made  satisfaction  for  an 
old  quarrel  by  presents  of  slaves  and  pipes.  I 
brought  about  this  accommodation.  I  dare  venture 
to  assure  you,  sir,  that  the  general  assembly  of  all 
the  nations  has  put  them  at  peace  with  one  another 
and  renewed  their  ancient  alliance.  They  calculate 
upon  receiving  many  presents  which  they  say,  sir, 
you  promised  them. 

"I  have  determined,  with  the  consent  of  his 
nation,  to  send  to  you  the  grand  chief  of  the  Illinois 
Rock  village.  His  name  is  Chachagonache.  He  is 
a  good  man  and  has  much  authority,  and  I  trust, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


223 


sir,  that  you  will  induce  him  to  make  a  peace  with 
the  Miamis. 

"This  affair  is  of  very  great  consequence,  the 
Miamis  having  sent  me  word  that  they  should  aban 
don  their  village  and  build  another  on  the  Oyou,  at 
the  end  of  Lake  Erie.  It  is  precisely  where  the 
English  are  about  to  erect  a  fort,  according  to  the 
belts  they  have  sent  to  the  different  nations.  They 
also  said  that  they  would  be  contented  if  you  sent 
them,  sir,  a  garrison  and  a  reverend  father,  a  Jesuit, 
and  some  presents  that  they  say  you  promised  them. 

"Makisabie,  the  Pottawatomie  chief,  has  much 
influence  over  the  mind  of  this  Illinois  chief.  He 
goes  with  him.  Joseph,  who  accompanies  them, 
deserves  your  kindness.  I  have  had  much  trouble 
to  save  his  life. 

"I  venture,  sir,  to  request  that  you  take  care  that 
the  Indians  who  are  with  Mr.  de  Vincennes  return 
contented;  their  visit  secures  this  post. 

"Saguina  has  complained  to  me  that  Mr,  Desti- 
ettes  would  not  wait  for  him  last  spring,  believing  it 
was  through  contempt. 

"Poor  Otchipouac  died  this  winter.  It  is  a  great 
loss  to  us,  for  he  had  much  firmness  and  was  well 
disposed  toward  the  French.  We  have  another 
difficult  affair  which  threatens  to  give  us  much 
trouble.  The  Kickapoos,  who  live  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Maumee  river,  are  about  to  make  war  upon  us 
now  that  our  allies  have  left  us;  about  thirty  Mas- 
coutins  have  joined  them.  A  canoe  of  Kickapoos 
who  came  here  to  speak  to  the  three  villages  has. 
been  defeated  by  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas.  Among 
them  was  a  principal  chief,  whose  head  was  brought 


224  LOST   MARAMECH 

to  me,  with  the  heads  of  three  others.  This  was 
done  out  of  resentment,  because  last  winter  they  had 
taken  prisoners  some  of  the  Hurons  and  the  Iro- 
quois;  besides,  they  considered  him  a  true  Outaga- 
mie.  I  believe  that  if  Mr.  de  Vincennes  had  not 
been  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  at  the  time,  the 
Kickapoos  would  have  killed  the  two  Hurons  and 
the  Iroquois.  There  was  every  probability  of  it. 
Those  same  Indians  took  prisoner  also  Langlois, 
who  was  on  his  return  from  the  Miami  country  and 
who  had  charge  of  many  letters  from  the  reverend 
fathers,  the  Jesuits  of  the  Illinois  villages.  All 
these  letters  have  been  destroyed,  which  circum 
stance  has  given  me  much  uneasiness,  as  I  am  sure, 
sir,  there  were  some  for  you  from  Louisiana.  They 
dismissed  him,  after  robbing  him  of  his  peltry, 
charging  him  to  return  and  tell  them  the  news;  but 
he  had  no  more  desire  to  do  that  than  I  had  to  per 
mit  him.  However,  the  Ottawas  might  safely  send 
there,  because  the  Kickapoos  have  among  them  one 
of  their  women  with  her  children.  I  will  endeavor 
to  prevail  upon  the  Ottawas  and  the  Hurons  to 
accommodate  their  difficulties  with  the  Kickapoos 
in  order  that  our  repose  may  not  be  troubled  here. 
"I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  sir,  that  I 
accomplished  a  measure  the  last  year  that  Mr.  de 
Lamothe  never  could  effect,  during  all  the  time  he 
was  here,  which  was  to  compel  the  Ottawas  to  make 
a  solid  peace  with  the  Miamis  and  to  engage  them 
to  visit  the  latter,  which,  till  now,  they  never  would 
do.  I  succeeded  very  happily  in  the  object,  the 
Miamis  having  received  them  very  kindly,  and  a 
durable  alliance  has  been  the  consequence. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


225 


"I  flatter  myself,  sir,  it  will  be  agreeable  to  you  to 
be  informed  that  Mr.  de  Vincennes  has  faithfully 
performed  his  duty  and  that  he  has  labored  assidu 
ously  here,  as  well  as  on  his  voyage  to  the  Miamis 
and  Ouyatonons,  the  last  winter. 

"If  I  am  so  happy,  sir,  as  to  receive  your  appro 
bation  of  my  conduct,  I  shall  be  fully  compensated 
for  all  my  trouble  and  shall  experience  no  more 
dejection. 

"My  success  has  been  much  owing  to  the  great 
influence  I  have  over  the  nations;  Mr.  de  Vin 
cennes  is  the  witness  of  this.  I  do  not  say  this  in 
order  to  gratify  my  vanity  or  to  claim  any  credit, 
for,  truly,  I  am  very  tired  of  Detroit. 

"You  can  easily  judge,  sir,  in  what  a  condition 
my  affairs  must  be  in  consequence  of  having  no 
presents  belonging  to  the  king  in  my  hands.  How 
ever,  I  venture  to  trust  to  your  goodness  and  hope 
that  you  will  not  suffer  a  devil  to  be  reduced  to  beg 
gary. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  very  profound 
respect,  sir,  your  very  humble  and  very  obedient 
servant, 

"(Signed)  Dubuisson. 

"Pontchartrain, 
"Au  Fort  du  Detroit,  June  15,  1712." 

From  the  following  (Collection  of  Manuscripts,  I., 
622)  we  may  gather  some  valuable  facts;  they  do 
not  seem  to  lay  all  the  blame  on  the  Foxes. 

The  commandant  at  Detroit  in  1712,  wishing  to 
draw  the  commerce  of  all  the  nations  to  his  post, 
sent  some  belts  of  wampum  to  the  Mascoutins  and 


226  LOST   MARAMECH 

Kickapoos  to  invite  them  to  make  a  village  at 
Detroit,  where  he  offered  them  a  place  which  they 
accepted  and,  having  come  to  the  number  of  forty 
families,  they  there  made  a  fort.  In  the  account 
the  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos,  and  Foxes  are  grouped 
together,  which  is  often  the  case.  The  Mascoutins, 
as  is  well  known,  by  the  way,  have  disappeared, 
and  it  is  a  question  if  they  were  not,  in  fact,  a 
branch  of  the  Fox  tribe,  unrecognized  as  such  by 
the  French. 

"As  the  nation  is  feared  and  hated  by  the  other 
nations,  because  of  its  arrogance/'  says  our  inform 
ant,  "the  fomentation  of  a  conspiracy  was  com 
menced  by  those  already  established  at  Detroit, 
where  the  Sr.  de  Buisson  was  in  command.  In  1712 
the  Hurons  and  Ottawas,  numbering  about  nine 
hundred  men,  gathered  at  the  fort  and  to  them  the 
commandant  opened  the  gate,  which  they  entered. 
They  quickly  mounted  the  bastions  that  commanded 
the  fort  of  the  Foxes  and  made  several  discharges 
of  musketry.  One  of  the  Fox  chiefs  spoke  to  the 
French  in  a  loud  voice,  saying:  'What  do  you  wish 
of  us,  my  father?  Thou  hast  invited  us  to  come  and 
dwell  near  thee,  and  thy  words  [represented  by 
wampum  belts]  are  fresh  in  our  sacks,  and  yet  thou 
declarest  war;  what  is  the  cause  of  your  having 
done  this?  Apparently,  my  father,  thou  hast  for 
gotten  that  there  is  not  a  nation  that  calls  itself  thy 
children  that  has  not  dipped  its  hand  in  the  blood 
of  the  French.  I  am  [we  are]  the  only  one  of  them 
to  whom  thou  canst  not  make  this  reproach;  and 
nevertheless,  thou  joinest  our  enemies  and  eat  [kill] 
us;  but  know  thou  that  the  Foxes  arc  immortal; 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  227 

and  if  in  my  defense  I  shed  the  blood  of  the  French, 
thou,  my  father,  canst  not  reproach  me.'  ' 

The  speech  was  interrupted  by  musketry.  On  the 
fourth  day  the  Foxes  ran  short  of  provisions,  and 
one  called  out  in  a  high  tone:  "My  father,  I  am  not 
addressing  thee,  but  saying  to  the  women  [squaw- 
men,  a  way  of  calling  warriors  cowards]  who  hide 
in  thy  fort  that  if  they  are  as  brave  as  they  say,  they 
may  detail  eighty  of  their  best  warriors,  and  I  will 
oppose  them  with  no  more  than  twenty;  and  if  the 
eighty  defeat  us,  I  will  consent  that  we  become 
their  slaves;  and  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  twenty 
defeat  them,  then  they  shall  be  our  slaves." 

After  the  Foxes  had  escaped  from  their  fort  and 
reached  the  peninsula  that  thrusts  itself  into  the 
river  near  Lake  St.  Clair,  one  of  the  Fox  chiefs 
called  to  De  Vincennes,  who  had  demanded  sur 
render:  "Is  it  to  thee  I  surrender?  Reply  at  once 
and  tell  me,  my  father,  if  quarter  will  be  given  to 
our  families.  Answer  me."  De  Vincennes  replied 
that  he  would  accord  to  them  their  lives. 

This  memoir  is  attributed  to  one  M.  de  Lery.  All 
accounts  show  that  this  butchery  may  have  been 
brought  about  by  treachery  on  the  part  of  the 
French. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

Revenge  was  ever  sweet  to  an  Indian,  and  the 
Foxes  never  were  free  from  the  desire  to  seek 
revenge  for  their  many  wrongs,  even  though  the 
danger  was  so  great  as  possibly  to  lead  to  their  own 
destruction.  The  few  who  escaped  massacre  at 
Detroit  evidently  found  their  way  to  the  south  end 
of  Green  Bay  and  united  with  the  portion  of  their 
tribe  there  that  had  long  affiliated  with  the  Sacs. 
No  better  locality  could  have  been  found  in  which 
to  retaliate  than  along  the  Wisconsin  river,  and 
they  did  not  miss  many  opportunities  to  return  to 
their  old  methods.  Travelers  from  Green  Bay  to 
the  Mississippi  took  their  lives  in  their  hands  when 
ever  they  passed  and  failed  to  pay  tribute.  Through 
the  machinations  of  the  Foxes  the  other  routes  to 
the  Mississippi  were  also  made  dangerous  to  the 
traders.  With  the  exception  of  the  Sioux,  although 
sometimes  against  them,  and  the  Iroquois  with 
whom  they  were  at  times  allied,  all  the  nations  who 
were  on  friendly  terms  with  the  French  suffered 
greatly  from  the  depredations  of  the  Foxes,  and  it 
was  feared  that  if  a  speedy  remedy  was  not  applied 
the  greater  number  of  the  Indian  tribes  would 
become  reconciled  with  the  Foxes  to  the  prejudices 
of  the  French.  It  is  said  that  some  Sioux  and  Iro 
quois  secretly  joined  the  Foxes  in  some  of  their 
depredations.  (Ferland,  II.,  204.) 

All  this  prompted  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  when 
229 


230  LOST   MARAMECH 

Governor  of  Canada,  to  propose  a  union  of  the 
French  with  the  Indian  tribes  in  an  expedition  to 
exterminate  the  common  enemy.  M.  de  Louvigny 
led  a  party  of  eight  hundred  men,  all  resolved  not 
to  lay  down  arms  while  the  Foxes  remained. 

The  Foxes  had  selected  a  stronghold  at  what  is 
now  known  as  Butte  des  Morts,  before  referred  to. 
More  than  five  hundred  warriors  and  three  thousand 
women  and  children  shut  themselves  up  in  a  fort 
surrounded  by  three  ranges  of  palisades,  with  a  ditch 
in  the  rear.  Three  hundred  warriors  were  on  the 
way  to  reenforce  them,  but  they  did  not  arrive  in 
time.  De  Louvigny,  finding  them  thus  strongly 
entrenched,  attacked  them  in  form.  He  had  two 
field-pieces  and  a  grenade  mortar. 

The  trenches  were  opened  about  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  fort,  and  on  the  third  day  he  was  only 
about  twenty-five  yards  distant  when  the  besieged 
made  a  great  attack  by  firing  on  the  French. 

De  Louvigny  was  preparing  to  undermine  the 
works  when  the  Foxes  proposed  terms  of  capitula 
tion,  which  were  finally  agreed  to.  A  treaty  of 
peace  was  to  be  made  between  the  Foxes  on  one 
hand  and  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  on  the 
other;  all  of  the  prisoners  were  to  be  given  up  at 
once;  the]dead  French  and  allies  were  to  be  replaced 
by  slaves,  which  the  Foxes  were  to  obtain  from  the 
neighboring  nations  with  whom  they  were  at  war. 
The  expenses  of  the  war  were  to  be  paid  from  the 
results  of  the  chase  by  the  Foxes,  and  their  country 
was  to  be  ceded  to  the  French.  The  Foxes  gave 
six  hostages,  all  chiefs  or  sons  of  chiefs,  and  prom 
ised  to  send  some  deputies  to  Montreal  to  sign  the 


Fair  ones  of  the  Tama  Reservation. 


Harvesting  wild  rice. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


231 


treaty,  in  which  they  declared  that  they  would  cede 
all  their  country  to  the  French.  Pemoussa,  who  was 
spared  at  Detroit  the  year  previous,  and  two  others 
of  the  hostages  who  went,  died  during  the  following 
winter  of  smallpox  at  Montreal,  and  this  deranged 
the  plans  of  De  Vaudreuil  who,  fearing  that  the 
treacherous  Foxes  would  not  carry  the  whole  terms 
of  the  treaty  into  effect,  sent  De  Louvigny  back  to 
Mackinaw  with  orders  to  have  the  treaty  fully  exe 
cuted  and  to  bring  chiefs  of  that  nation  to  him  at 
Montreal. 

In  May,  1717,  De  Louvigny  arrived  at  Mackinaw 
with  one  of  the  hostages,  who  had  been  attacked 
with  the  smallpox,  as  the  others,  and  had  been  made 
blind  in  one  eye  by  it.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  De 
Louvigny  sent  this  chief  to  the  Foxes  with  presents 
to  cover  the  dead,  accompanied  by  two  interpreters. 
They  were  well  received,  the  calumet  was  smoked, 
and  after  some  days  of  grieving  for  the  dead,  the 
chiefs  met  to  listen  to  the  hostage.  He  represented 
all  matters  in  a  proper  manner,  and  reproached  the 
chiefs  for  not  having  repaired  to  Mackinaw.  The 
chiefs  said  that  they  were  sensible  of  the  kindness 
which  the  Governor  continued  to  show  them,  ex 
cused  themselves  for  not  having  already  sent  depu 
ties  in  fulfillment  of  the  treaty,  and  promised  to 
fulfill  their  obligations  the  following  year,  giving 
their  promise  in  writing,  and  adding  that  they  would 
never  forget  that  they  held  their  lives  as  a  gift  from 
the  great  father. 

The  hostage  came  away  with  the  interpreters  to 
rejoin  De  Louvigny  at  Mackinaw;  but  after  travel 
ing  about  twenty  leagues  he  left  them,  saying  that  it 


232  LOST   MARAMECH 

was  necessary  that  he  should  return  and  oblige  the 
nation  to  keep  its  word.  Nothing  further  was  heard 
from  him.  The  Foxes  did  not  send  deputies  to  the 
Governor-General;  and  although  he  flattered  him 
self  for  a  while  that  they  would  do  so,  he  was  only 
taught  by  the  renewal  of  the  old  practices  by  the 
Foxes  that  an  enemy  driven  to  a  certain  point  is 
always  irreconcilable.  It  is  true  that  their  pride 
was  greatly  humbled  and  that  a  few  years  afterward 
they  abandoned  their  old  home  and  retired  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi;  but  in  the  meanwhile 
many  battles  were  fought  with  them,  while  the 
Foxes,  on  their  part,  had  obliged  the  Illinois  to 
abandon  their  river  forever.  Although,  after  re 
peated  defeats,  it  could  scarcely  be  considered  that 
there  remained  enough  of  the  Foxes  to  form  a 
trifling  village,  yet  no  one  ventured  to  go  from 
Canada  to  Louisiana  without  taking  great  precau 
tions  against  surprises. 

They  soon  renewed  their  old  persecutions,  and  the 
courcurs  du  bois  found  the  region  that  was  thus  aban 
doned  by  the  Illinois  too  dangerous  to  frequent,  and 
although  it  abounded  in  peltries,  they  preferred  not 
to  venture  there  for  them. 

After  the  expedition  of  De  Louvigny,  the  Foxes 
gradually  increased  in  numbers,  and  in  1718  they 
were  reported  to  have  five  hundred  men  at  their 
village  on  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin,  which 
abounded  in  a  multitude  of  women  and  children. 
(N.  Y.  Col.  Docs,  IX.,  889.)  They  were  said  to  be 
as  industrious  as  people  could  be;  they  gathered 
wild  rice  and  raised  large  quantities  of  Indian  corn, 
pumpkins,  and  melons.  Their  customs  differed 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  233 

little  from  those  of  their  neighbors;  they  had  the 
same  kind  of  dances  and  games  as  the  Pottawato- 
mies  and  other  tribes,  but  differed  in  dress,  for  the 
men  wore  little  clothing  and  the  greater  portion  of 
them  did  not  even  wear  a  breech-cloth.  As  for  the 
women,  they  were  all  well  dressed,  and  the  girls,  in 
addition,  wore  black  or  brown  fawn-skins  embel 
lished  all  around  with  little  beads,  or  copper  or  tin 
trinkets,  and  also  wore  blankets.  "They  were 
pretty  enough,"  says  one  writer,  "and  not  black." 
There  was  excellent  hunting  in  these  parts,  and  the 
people  lived  well  in  consequence  of  the  abundance 
of  meat  and  fish;  of  the  latter  the  Fox  river  was  said 
to  be  very  full.  In  the  same  account  they  are  said 
to  have  been  fifty  leagues  (about  121  miles),  in  the 
direction  of  Chicagou,  from  the  Mascoutins  and 
Kickapoos,  who  resided  together  in  a  village  on  the 
bank  of  a  river,  the  name  of  which  was  forgotten  by 
the  narrator.  O'Callaghan,  editor  of  the  New  York 
Colonial  Documents,  in  a  footnote,  gives  the  Rock 
river  of  Illinois  as  the  location  of  the  Mascoutins 
and  Kickapoos  at  the  time,  which  is  undoubtedly 
correct,  but  if  the  Foxes  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  them  in  the  direction  of  Chicago, 
they  must  have  been  located  near  Chicago.  If  so 
located,  possibly  on  the  Fox  river  of  Illinois,  it 
must  have  been  only  for  a  very  short  period  of  time 
for,  as  will  be  seen,  they  soon  after  left  their  old 
home  on  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin  and  passed 
westward  toward  the  Mississippi  river,  and  finally 
down  the  latter  to  Rock  Island.  The  Pottawatomies 
and  Miamis  seem  to  have  left  the  St.  Joseph  river 
about  1718,  for  a  time  at  least. 


234  LOST   MARAMECH 

A  writer,  in  a  memoir  on  the  Indians  between 
Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Superior,  dated  1717  (N.  Y.  Col. 
Docs.,  X.,  890),  says:  "I  believed  they  left  it  (the 
St.  Joseph  river)  only  because  of  the  war  between 
the  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Ottawas,  and  all  the  other  tribes 
of  those  parts.  It  is  thirty  leagues  from  the  Rock. 
The  Ouitanons,  a  branch  of  the  Miamis,  were  also 
at  Chicago,  but  being  afraid  of  the  canoe  people 
(Pottawatomies  and  others)  left  it." 

The  early  writers  did  not  always  distinguish 
between  the  Illinois  and  Miamis,  for  the  tribes  were 
often  at  peace  with  each  other  and  their  villages  near 
together.  The  Foxes  and  tribes  allied  with  them 
made  war  on  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  and  drove 
them  from  the  northern  part  of  what  is  now  the 
state  of  Illinois.  The  Illinois  occupied  a  position 
near  "The  Rock"  on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  river 
(Starved  Rock),  at  the  time  the  French  occupied 
the  Rock,  which  was  fortified.  From  their  lofty 
position  they  could  see  the  prairies  on  which  herds 
of  buffalo  grazed.  The  branch  of  the  Illinois  tribe 
known  as  the  "Illinois  of  the  Rock"  (Peorias) 
remained  in  the  vicinity  until  long  after  other  parts 
of  this  tribe  had  settled  at  the  new  town  of  Kaskas- 
kia,  on  the  Mississippi  river.  They  joined  the  rest 
of  the  tribe  about  1730,  and  we  shall  see  the  Foxes 
there  took  revenge. 

The  Foxes  often  sought  big  game,  and  so  at  one 
time  succeeded  in  killing  some  Ojibwa  chiefs  who 
resided  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior. 
That  tribe  threatened  war  upon  the  Foxes  and,  as 
well,  other  tribes  adjacent  to  Green  Bay.  It 
required  great  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Governor, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  235 

through  deputies,  to  calm  these  people;  but  the 
Foxes  were  finally  induced  to  send  three  deputies 
to  Montreal,  in  company  with  a  Kickapoo  chief, 
who  was  sent  by  his  people  and  the  Mascoutins,  to 
assure  the  Governor  that  they  were  really  disposed 
to  preserve  peace  with  all  nations,  but  peace  was 
not  brought  by  mere  words,  and  war  was  continued 
between  the  Illinois,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Kick- 
apoos  and  Mascoutins  on  the  other.  The  Foxes 
again  became  involved  because  the  Illinois  had 
attacked  them  on  several  occasions  and  had  killed 
and  made  prisoners  several  of  their  people,  regard 
less  of  the  fact  that  the  Foxes  had  not  made  the 
attack.  On  eight  different  occasions  the  prison 
ers  which  the  Kickapoos  had  taken  from  the  Illinois 
and  presented  to  the  Foxes  had  been  released  by 
the  Foxes,  who  always  instructed  them,  on  the  part 
of  the  chiefs,  that  if  they  were  disposed  for  peace 
they  had  only  to  come  to  their  village  where  they 
would  be  safe.  The  excuses  offered  by  the  Foxes 
for  having  finally  joined  against  the  Illinois  ap 
peared  reasonable,  and  the  Kickapoo  deputy  repre 
sented  to  the  Governor  that  he  did  not  commence 
hostilities,  but  that  the  Illinois  had  attacked  him  at 
a  time  when  he  entertained  no  other  hopes  than  to 
live  in  peace  with  all  the  nations.  The  Governor 
gave  the  deputies  to  understand  that  peace  must  be 
made,  and  in  order  to  conclude  it  they  must  prevail 
upon  their  allies,  the  Sacs,  to  labor  to  that  end. 
He  requested  them  not  to  make  any  movement 
against  the  Illinois  nation  during  the  negotiations; 
but  even  while  the  negotiations  for  peace  were 
going  on,  a  party  of  forty  Illinois  who  had  just  struck 


236  LOST   MARAMECH 

a  blow,  having  encountered,  on  their  way,  a  party 
of  Foxes,  Kickapoos,  and  Mascoutins,  were  so  com 
pletely  surrounded  that  not  one  of  them  escaped, 
twenty  of  them  having  been  killed  on  the  spot  and 
as  many  taken  prisoners. 

It  can  hardly  be  said  that  anything  precipitated 
the  last  great  war  with  the  Foxes,  but  a  very  near 
approach  to  it  was  the  affair  connected  with  Father 
Michael  Guignas,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  who  came  to 
Canada  in  1716,  and  two  years  later  was  assigned  to 
the  Mission  at  Mackinaw.  In  1727  he  accompanied 
Governor  Beauharnois  to  Lake  Pipin,  where  a  fort 
was  built  and  a  mission  established.  In  the  follow 
ing  year  the  French  were  obliged  to  leave  this  post 
on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Foxes,  but 
returned  to  it  in  a  few  years,  but  not  until  after  one 
of  the  most  numerous  branches  of  the  tribe  had 
been  destroyed,  at  a  point  on  the  Fox  river  of  Illi 
nois  at  the  site  of  ancient  Maramech. 

While  descending  the  Mississippi  river,  from  Fort 
Beauharnois,  Guignas  and  his  comrades  were  cap 
tured  (October  15,  1728)  by  the  Mascoutins  and 
Kickapoos,  still  located  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
Wisconsin.  He  was  kept  in  captivity  five  months, 
and  narrowly  escaped  being  burned  at  the  stake. 
(/.  R.,  LXV1IL,  329.)  With  him  were  sixteen 
Frenchmen,  all  on  their  way  to  one  of  the  Illinois 
villages  that  had  been  established  about  thirty  years 
before  at  the  great  river.  The  name  Kaskaskia  they 
had  carried  with  them  from  the  village  on  the  Illi 
nois  river,  opposite  "Rock  Fort,"  now  known  as 
Starved  Rock,  which  they  had  been  forced  to  aban 
don.  "The  time  at  last  came,"  we  are  told  of 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  237 

Guignas,  "when  he  was  to  be  burned  alive,  and  he 
prepared  himself  to  finish  his  life  in  this  horrible 
torment,  when  he  was  adopted  by  an  old  man  who 
saved  his  life  and  procured  him  his  liberty.  Other 
missionaries  who  were  among  the  Illinois  were  no 
sooner  made  acquainted  with  his  sad  situation  than 
they  procured  him  all  the  alleviations  they  were 
able  to.  Everything  he  received  he  employed  in 
conciliating  the  savages,  and  he  succeeded  to  such 
an  extent  that  he  induced  them  to  conduct  him  to 
the  Illinois,  and  while  there  to  make  peace  with  the 
French  and  with  the  savages  of  that  region.  Eight 
months  after  this  peace  was  concluded,  the  Mascou- 
tins  and  Kickapoos  returned  again  to  the  Illinois 
country  and  took  Father  Guignas  to  spend  the  win 
ter  with  them,  from  whence,  in  all  probability,  he 
will  return  to  Canada.  He  has  been  exceedingly 
broken  down  by  these  fatiguing  journeys,  but  his 
zeal,  full  of  fire  and  activity,  seems  to  give  him 
strength." 

Later  he  was  found  at  Fort  Beauharnois  and 
remained  in  that  region  until  1739.  Although  many 
historians  say  that  nothing  was  heard  of  him  after 
the  encounter  with  the  Foxes,  still  we  find  a  state 
ment  that  he  died  at  Quebec,  February  5,  1752.  In 
the  reports  sent  by  Father  Nau  to  his  superior  he 
says:  "The  war  is  still  carried  on  against  the  Fox 
nation  and  against  other  tribes  which  have  taken 
them  under  their  protection.  Father  Guignas  was 
not  taken,  as  it  was  feared,  but  he  has  much  to 
suffer,  for  nothing  can  be  sent  him  safely.  For  two 
consecutive  years  the  provisions  sent  him  have 
fallen  into  the  enemy's  hands."  (/.  R.,  LXV., 


238  LOST   MARAMECH 

233.)  This  probably  refers  to  the  time  when  Father 
Guignas  was  at  Fort  Beauharnois  the  second  time, 
as  above  stated. 

There  evidently  remained  enough  of  the  Foxes 
associated  with  the  Sacs  to  annoy  the  father  much 
for  a  long  time  after  the  slaughter  of  1730.  Father 
Aulneau  says:  "We  received  a  few  days  ago  news 
of  Father  Guignas,  of  whom  we  had  not  heard  since 
1732.  He  is  in  a  helpless  condition;  the  hunger  he 
has  had  to  endure  and  constant  dangers  which  he 
has  been  continually  exposed  to  of  being  massacred 
by  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  numerous  other  hard 
ships  borne  heroically,  have  brought  him  so  low 
that  even  the  savages,  who  have  little  pity  for  us, 
are  forced  to  look  upon  him  with  feelings  of  com 
passion."  (/.  R.,  LXVIII.,  257.)  Father  Nau 
further  says:  "Our  people  have  a  war  on  their  hands 
this  long  time  with  a  savage  tribe  called  the  Foxes. 
It  has  been  in  a  very  slight  degree  successful, 
through  the  impossibility  in  which  our  troops  are  of 
ever  overtaking  them  in  sufficient  numbers  to 
destroy  them.  Last  year  ninety  of  our  young  men 
joined  a  French  expedition  against  the  Foxes;  but 
after  inconceivable  hardships  and  a  journey  of  more 
than  seven  hundred  leagues,  the  guides  led  them 
astray,  and  they  were  obliged  to  make  their  way 
back  without  having  caught  sight  of  the  enemy, 
save  in  one  instance.  A  party  of  twenty-three  sav 
ages,  nearly  all  of  our  mission,  and  seven  French 
men  had  somehow  become  separated  from  the  main 
body  when  they  found  themselves  suddenly  sur 
rounded  by  a  war  party  of  two  hundred  Foxes.  Our 
men  would  have  been  destroyed  had  it  not  been  for 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  239 

the  resolution  of  the  Iroquois.  'We  are  all  dead 
men,'  he  said,  'if  we  surrender.  There  is  no  help 
for  it;  we  will  have  to  sell  our  lives  as  dearly  as 
possible.  Let  us  show  the  Foxes  that  we  are  Iro 
quois  and  Frenchmen/  Whereupon  he  led  the  war 
riors  to  the  attack.  The  enemy  could  not  stand  the 
first  onslaught  and  retreated  precipitately  to  their 
fort.  Thirty  Foxes  were  laid  low  and  ten  taken 
prisoners;  our  party  lost  but  two  Frenchmen  and 
one  savage."  Hebbard's  Wisco?isin  under  Dominion 
of  France,  p.  142,  speaks  of  this  expedition  as  having 
been  in  August,  1734,  when  the  Foxes  were  found 
on  the  Des  Moines  river  of  Iowa.  The  attack  was  a 
failure  and  ended  only  in  negotiations  for  peace. 
The  expedition  was  under  the  command  of  De 
Noyelle,  who,  in  1730,  as  we  shall  see,  aided  in 
defeating  the  Foxes  (we  may  as  well  say  aided  in 
the  massacre),  at  the  site  of  the  ancient  village  of 
Maramech.  It  was  not  until  1733  that  peace,  to  any 
extent  effective,  was  concluded  between  the  French 
and  the  Foxes  with  others  associated  with  the  latter. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Turning  back  to  1710,  we  read  that  some  French 
men,  who  for  a  time  had  traded  with  the  Sioux, 
found  the  route  blockaded  by  the  Foxes,  and  that 
the  Foxes  had,  in  many  ways,  attempted  to  embit 
ter  the  Sioux  against  the  French,  on  the  ground  that 
the  latter  were  only  wishing  to  aid  the  Sioux  and 
lead  them  to  their  own  final  injury.  They  made  a 
pretext  that  the  French  clandestine  traders  (the 
coureurs  du  bois]  were  supplying  the  Sioux  with  pow 
der,  lead,  arms,  and  merchandise.  Ten  years  before 
this,  La  Sueur's  journal  tells  us,  that  that  traveler 
met,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  five  Canadians,  one  of 
whom  was  dangerously  wounded  in  the  head;  they 
were  naked  and  had  no  arms  except  a  wretched  gun 
with  five  or  six  charges  of  powder  and  ball.  They 
said  .that  they  were  descending  from  the  Sioux  to 
go  to  the  Tamarois  and  that  they  had  met  with  nine 
canoes,  carrying  ninety  Indians,  who  had  plundered 
and  cruelly  beaten  them.  The  party  was  going  to 
war  against  the  Sioux  and  was  made  up  of  .four 
different  nations,  Foxes,  Sacs,  Pottawatomies,  and 
Winnebagoes.  The  Indians  no  doubt  intended  the 
robbery  as  a  punishment  to  the  Frenchmen  for  hav 
ing  taken  arms  to  the  Sioux.  The  Foxes  were  jeal 
ous  of  what  they  considered  their  rights  and,  as 
before,  levied  tribute  on  all  who  passed  along  their 
river.  This  jealousy  continued  for  many  years. 
Father  Chardon,  a  missionary  at  Green  Bay,  wrote 

241 


242  LOST   MARAMECH 

to  his  superiors,  even  as  late  as  1733,  that  it  would 
be  difficult  to  establish  a  mission  at  the  Sioux 
because  of  the  interference  of  the  Foxes  and  Kicka- 
poos  who,  two  years  before,  had  killed  two  French 
men.  The  Foxes  declared  that  they  would  not  let 
the  French  go  to  the  Sioux  because  they  not  only 
carried  arms,  but  the  commerce  that  the  French 
made  diminished  their  own  commerce^  considerably, 
as  otherwise,  as  middlemen,  they  could  carry  on  a 
profitable  trade  between  the  French  and  the  Sioux. 
Notwithstanding  this  opposition,  the  Foxes  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  the  Sioux  to  join  them  and  attack 
some  of  the  French  who  were  on  their  way  to  the 
Illinois.  Prior  to  this,  fragments  of  these  two  tribes 
attacked  the  French  who  were  established  at  the 
Illinois  village.  Being  so  embittered  against  the 
Illinois  they  could  not  be  made  to  end  the  war  they 
had  been  engaged  in  for  so  many  years. 

In  1727  an  association  of  Frenchmen  was  formed 
to  attempt  trade  with  the  Sioux.  The  uncertainty 
of  reaching  the  latter  was  such  that,  in  the  articles 
of  association,  there  was  a  provision  to  the  effect 
that  in  case  the  traders  were  prevented  by  the 
Foxes,  from  passing  to  the  Sioux,  they  were  to  be 
permitted  to  trade  their  merchandise  wherever  it 
seemed  best,  under  the  orders  of  the  officer  com 
manding,  who  would  direct  the  manner  and  place 
for  the  purpose.  (Affluents  Mississippi,  p.  548.) 

Father  Charlevoix  encountered  fragments  of  this 
ruthless  tribe.  He  tells  us,  in  speaking  of  the  cus 
tom  of  burning  prisoners:  "Sometimes  the  prisoners 
are  judged  and  executed  before  arriving  at  the  vil 
lage  of  their  captors.  At  one  time  a  Frenchman 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


243 


having  been  taken  by  the  Foxes,  the  latter  held  a 
council,  on  their  route  homeward,  to  determine 
what  they  should  do  with  the  prisoner."  The  way 
they  reached  a  conclusion  "was  to  throw  a  stick  up 
in  a  tree  a  certain  number  of  times,  and  if  it 
remained  there  the  prisoner  was  to  be  burned,  but 
if  it  fell  to  the  ground  his  life  was  to  be  spared." 

While  passing  down  the  Illinois  river,  near  Peoria 
lake,  the  father  and  ,his  Frenchmen  found  forty 
Canadians,  who  informed  him  that  he  would  soon  be 
in  the  midst  of  four  parties  of  Foxes  and  that  he 
would  have  safety  neither  in  advancing  nor  return 
ing.  There  were  thirty  Foxes  in  ambush,  and  an 
equal  number  of  the  same  around  the  village  of 
Pimiteouy,  and  others,  to  the  number  of  eighty, 
held  themselves  in  readiness  lower  down  the  river. 
The  canoes  of  the  fleet  that  carried  the  father 
landed  at  the  foot  of  an  island  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  game,  and  while  there  heard  noises  of 
wood-chopping.  The  nearness  of  the  Illinois  vil 
lage  of  Pimiteouy  led  them  to  judge  that  the  noise 
came  from  some  Illinois  who  were  doing  this,  yet  it 
had  much  the  appearance  that  the  Foxes  had  dis 
covered  them  and,  not  daring  to  attack  them,  wished 
to  draw  some  of  the  French  into  the  woods.  The 
father  believed  that  the  lack  of  curiosity  on  the  part 
of  the  French  proved  their  safety.  Thirty  Illinois 
warriors,  commanded  by  the  chief  of  the  village  of 
Pimiteouy,  were  on  the  march  to  endeavor  to  get 
reliable  information  in  regard  to  the  enemy.  A  few 
days  before  their  departure  an  engagement  had 
taken  place  in  the  neighborhood,  where  the  two 
parties  had  each  made  a  prisoner.  The  Fox  that 


244 


LOST   MARAMECH 


was  taken  had  been  burned,  a  gunshot  distant  from 
the  village,  and  the  body  yet  remained  tied  on  its 
frame. 

The  custom  of  the  Illinois  in  torturing  a  prisoner, 
it  may  be  said  in  passing,  was  to  plant  two  posts 
and  secure  a  cross-bar  near  the  ground  to  which  the 
feet  of  the  prisoner  were  tied,  some  distance  apart, 
and  another  cross-bar  at  sufficient  height  to  tie  his 
outstretched  arms  well  apart.  A  slow  fire  beneath, 
"to  give  their  friend  warmth,"  as  they  would  tan- 
talizingly  say,  was  usually  the  beginning  of  the  tor 
ture.  Firebrands  and  necklaces  of  hot  hatchets 
were  resorted  to.  Shower-baths  of  hot  ashes  and 
coals,  and  various  other  amusements  followed. 

The  Canadians  who  had  assisted  in  torturing  the 
prisoner  told  the  father  that  he  endured  the  torment 
five  hours,  and  that  the  unfortunate  had,  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  insisted  that  he  was  an  Illinois 
who  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  Foxes  in  his 
infancy  and  had  been  adopted  by  them.  He  could 
offer  no  proofs  of  this  assertion,  and  suffered  slow 
death  in  consequence.  Unlike  most  savages,  when 
submitted  to  the  tortures,  this  prisoner  uttered  dis 
tressing  cries.  An  old  Illinois  warrior,  whose  sons 
had  been  killed  by  the  Foxes,  inspired  by  re 
venge,  did  more  than  others  to  torture  the  prisoner 
in  every  way  that  he  could  invent.  Finally  the 
sufferer's  cries  excited  the  pity  of  one  who,  with  a 
view  to  ending  his  misery,  enveloped  him  in  cloth 
ing  of  dry  grass  and  set  fire  to  it.  As  he  still 
breathed  after  the  grass  had  been  consumed,  the 
children  were  permitted  to  pierce  his  body  with 
arrows.  Usually,  where  the  prisoners  did  not  die 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  245 

bravely,  it  was  a  woman  or  a  child  that  was  per 
mitted  to  give  the  stroke  of  death,  as  he  did  not 
merit  to  die  by  the  hand  of  a  warrior. 

Father  Charlevoix,  the  Jesuit  priest  who  told  the 
story,  was  a  fair  historian,  but  the  fact  that  he,  like 
Bancroft,  gave  to  the  Jesuit  missionaries  credit  for 
most  of  the  discoveries  in  America,  rather  than  to 
the  traders  who  ever  preceded  them,  becomes 
apparent  to  his  readers.  The  traders  sometimes  put 
on  the  cloak  of  religion,  by  taking  missionaries  with 
them  in  their  excursions,  in  order  to  win  commer 
cial  privileges  from  the  zealous  Christian  king  of 
France. 

Charlevoix  was  observing,  and  tells  us  much  in 
regard  to  the  region  of  country  that  we  now  see  to 
have  become  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  world. 
Passing  down  the  Illinois  river,  he  mentions  many 
tributaries  thereof.  "The  largest,"  he  wrote,  "is 
named  the  Pisticoui  and  comes  from  the  beautiful 
country  of  the  Mascoutins,  and  it  has  at  its  mouth 
a  rapid  named  La  Charboniere,  because  of  the  rich 
coal-beds  found  on  either  hand.  One  sees  on  this 
route  little  more  than  immense  prairies,  sown  with 
little  bunches  of  woods  that  appear  to  have  been 
planted  by  the  hand  of  man.  The  grasses  are  so 
high  that  one  becomes  lost  but  for  paths  that  are  as 
well  beaten  as  in  well-populated  countries.  How 
ever,  nothing  passes  over  them  but  buffalo  and, 
from  time  to  time,  herds  of  deer  and  antelope." 

Along  the  Pestekouy  (the  Fox  river)  fora  distance 
above  its  mouth,  the  soil  has  been  turned,  during 
recent  years,  to  strip  the  beds  of  coal  that  lie 
unconformably  upon  the  St.  Peter's  Sandstone 


246  LOST   MARAMECH 

through  which  the  ancient  Pestekouy  cut  its  way. 
Where  was  this  rapid  may  now  be  the  Dayton  dam 
that  turns  the  waters  of  the  river  into  the  canal 
feeder  at  Ottawa.  The  father  does  not  tell  us  that 
he  passed  up  the  Pestekouy,  but  he  certainly  did 
have  correct  information  regarding  it.  The  Peste 
kouy  is  laid  down  on  all  maps  as  heading  far  up  in 
the  country  of  the  Mascoutins,  and  the  father  could 
not  have  better  spoken  of  the  richness  of  the  region 
through  which  it  runs  had  his  canoe  stemmed  its 
current. 

Near  where  heads  the  stream,  at  one  of  its  many 
summer-sought  enlargements,  is  laid  down  Pistakee 
lake,  that  still  bears  the  erstwhile  name  of  the  river. 
The  river  and  lake  were  so  named  because  of  the 
herds  of  buffalo  that  grazed  on  the  bordering 
prairies.  In  Lanman's  History  of  Michigan  (1839), 
on  the  map,  is  shown  a  bit  each  of  Illinois  and  Wis 
consin,  and  there  we  find,  above  the  lake,  the  word 
"PISTAKA."  As  there  seen,  the  river  also  persists 
in  being  known  by  its  ancient  name,  Pistaka,  the 
English  interpretation  of  the  French  spelling  Peste 
kouy. 

While  passing  down  the  Illinois  river  the  father 
met  the  Illinois  and  Miami  tribes.  The  latter 
claimed  to  him  to  have  originally  come  from  the 
sea,  far  to  the  west.  These  tribes  united  firmly  in 
i697,'for  the  first  time,  succeeded  in  making  a  stand 
against  the  Iroquois  and,  having  driven  them  back, 
forced  them  into  the  treaty  of  peace  of  1702.  (Mis 
sissippi  Basin,  p.  15.) 

The  Illinois  and  Foxes  were  still  enemies,  and  the 
former,  in  1722,  captured  the  nephew  of  Oushala, 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  247 

the  principal  Fox  war  chief,  and  burned  him  alive. 
War  resulted.  (Starved  Rock,  p.  49.)  The  Foxes 
then  attacked  the  Illinois  and  drove  them  to  the  top 
of  Starved  Rock  and  held  them  there  at  their  mercy. 
These  Illinois  were  of  the  Peoria  branch,  the  last  to 
cling  to  the  region  about  the  famous  stronghold  of 
La  Salle;  all  the  other  Illinois  had  fled  to  the  west. 
Mr.  Hebbard,  in  Wisconsin  under  the  Dominion  of 
France,  tells  us:  "Unluckily  we  know  nothing  of  the 
details  of  the  siege,  except  the  number  of  the  slain — 
twenty  Peorias  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  the 
besiegers — but  ^the  bare  figures  are  quite  eloquent. 
They  tell  not  of  a  mere  blockade,  but  of  fierce 
assaults,  storming  parties,  desperate  attempts  to 
scale  the  heights — the  old  story  of  Foxes'  fury  and 
reckless  courage."  The  author  of  Starved  Rock 
tells  us  that  the  "news  of  this  attack  on  the  Peorias 
having  reached  Fort  Chartres,  a  detachment  of  a 
hundred  men,  commanded  by  Chevalier  d'Artagui- 
ette  and  Sieur  de  Tisne,  was  sent  to  their  assistance. 
Before  these  reinforcements  reached  the  Rock, 
however,  the  Foxes  raised  the  siege  and  departed." 
The  Peorias,  on  or  about  this  time,  abandoned  their 
home  near  the  Illinois  river,  and  united  with  the 
other  branches  of  the  tribe  at  Kaskaskia;  so  that, 
after  all,  the  Foxes  again  had  control  of  the  very 
heart  of  New  France,  along  the  Illinois  river.  "It 
was  a  grave  disaster  to  the  French,"  Charlevoix 
says,  "for  now  that  there  is  nothing  to  check  the 
raids  of  the  Foxes,  communication  between  Canada 
and  Louisiana  became  less  practicable. "  The  hand 
ful  of  warriors  of  the  Fox  tribe  were  so  troublesome 
to  the  French  that  the  matter  was  taken  up  at  Vcr- 


248  LOST   MARAMECH 

sailles,  France,  and  it  was  decided  "that  the  Foxes 
must  be  effectually  put  down  and  that  His  Majesty 
would  reward  the  officer  who  could  reduce  or  rather 
destroy  them."  It  seems  from  the  above  that  the 
last  of  the"  Illinois  left  the  Rock  in  1722,  and  all 
historians  substantially  agree  as  to  this  date;  but 
when  I  write  the  account  of  the  struggle  between 
the  French  and  allies  on  one  hand  and  the  Foxes  on 
the  other,  eight  years  later,  we  shall  find  certain  of 
the  allies  referred  to  in  the  military  reports  from 
which  I  shall  quote,  as  the  "Illinois  of  the  Rock." 
It  seems  from  this  that  some  of  the  Peoria  branch  of 
the  Illinois  tribe  for  sometime  had  been  called  "the 
Illinois  of  the  Rock,"  and  that  the  braver  ones  hov 
ered  about  their  old  hunting-grounds  and  thus,  as 
we  shall  find,  were  among  the  first  to  give  warning 
of  the  attempt  of  the  Foxes  to  pass  through  the 
former  hunting-grounds  of  the  Illinois  to  those  of 
the  Iroquois,  where  they  hoped  to  find  an  asylum. 

While  so  near  let  us  learn  of  the  Rock.  Echoes 
of  forgotten  tragedies  and  romance  seem  to  resound 
over  Starved  Rock,  and  traditions  of  sad  events 
seem  to  be  whispered  by  the  soughing  oaks  and 
sighing  pines  that  crown  the  summit  of  this  natural 
fortress.  A  half  century  ago  a  pretty  story  was 
written  that  found  its"  way  into  the  school  readers 
of  the  day,  entitled  Starved  Rock,  or  The  Last  of 
the  Illinois.  Purely  fiction  though  it  probably 
was,  all  there  depicted  might  have  been.  So 
charmed  was  I  with  the  story  that  whenever  oppor 
tunity  offered  I  visited  the  place.  A  more  fertile 
field  for  the  flowers  of  romance  cannot  be  found. 
I  have  stood  upon  the  summit  and  watched  the  ris- 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  249 

ing  sun  over  the  westward-flowing  Illinois  river  that 
narrows  to  the  sight  until  it  is  lost  in  the  distant 
bend.  Beautiful  islands,  that  were  the  fields  of  the 
natives,  divide  the  river;  and  there  are  still  fields 
that  rustle  in  the  summer  winds  as  did  the  fields  of 
those  who,  two  hundred  years  ago,  taught  the 
intruders  to  plant  and  tend  the  golden  corn. 
Buffalo  Rock,  on  the  river's  northern  bank,  for 
many  years  was  the  home  of  a  branch  of  the  Miami 
tribe  brought  there  by  La  Salle  who,  at  a  treaty 
held  on  the  St.  Joseph  river,  convinced  them  that  it 
was  to  their  interest  to  unite  with  the  Illinois  for 
common  defense.  A  rock  indeed,  but  not  a  barren 
one.  Its  surface  was,  back  in  geological  ages,  cov 
ered  unconformably  by  a  seam  of  coal,  the  debris  of 
ferns,  sturdy  as  the  palms  of  our  day,  and  a  thin 
seam  of  carboniferous  shales  and  surface  soil. 
Great  trees  offered  shade,  and  blue  grass  carpeted  it. 
Where  once  were  the  cabins  of  these  people  the  soil 
has  been  stripped,  by  the  enterprising  miner,  for  the 
fossil  sunshine  beneath.  This  rock,  covering  a  large 
area,  precipitous  at  nearly  all  points,  was  a  place  of 
easy  defense. 

One  gathers  from  the  description  given  by  most 
recent  writers  that  what  is  now  known  as  Starved 
Rock  is  a  promontory,  but  this  is  not  true,  although 
half  the  pleasure-seekers  who  visit  it,  and  tire  not  of 
telling  of  its  beautiful  surroundings,  come  away 
believing  it  to  be  but  a  height  thrust  northward  from 
the  range  of  hills  that  are  upon  the  same  plane  as 
the  prairie  beyond  the  woods  that  border  the  river. 
The  fact  is  that  the  path  that  leads  from  the  river 
passes  up  to  a  neck  that  connects  two  otherwise  iso- 


250  LOST   MARAMECH 

lated  rocks.  The  one  upon  which  was  the  ancient 
fort  is  somewhat  higher  and  larger,  and  rises  with  a 
sheer  front  from  the  >iver.  Back  of  this  double- 
summited  rock  is  a  well-defined  swamp  that  is 
drained  by  a  small  stream  passing  to  the  east,  and 
north  into  the  river.  To  the  west  the  land  is  low, 
and  during  the  rainy  season  the  Rock  may  well  be 
considered  an  island,  for  upon  the  west  side  also  the 
water  then  flows  down  a  slight  ravine  to  the  river. 

Although  the  site  of  Fort  St.  Louis  has  never  been 
lost,  Francis  Parkman  claims  to  have  discovered  it. 
The  tales  of  early  French  affairs  in  the  west  identify, 
and  a  multitude  of  two-centuries-old  maps  mark  its 
place.  Some  late  writers  lead  us  to  the  old  Shawnee 
earthworks  on  the  neighboring  hills,  and  others  say 
that  on  Lovers'  Leap,  Tonty  built  the  fort. 

"Lovers'  Leap"  is  but  a  cliff  terminating  an  exten 
sion  of  the  prairie  and,  not  being  "isolated  and 
approachable  only  at  a  single  point,"  cannot  have 
been  referred  to  as  "the  Rock."  The  definition  of 
the  French  word  roche  is  given  as  a  rock  "very 
large  and  isolated." 

A  question  as  to  the  location  of  Fort  St.  Louis  has 
been  raised  by  the  Hon.  Perry  Armstrong,  of  Mor 
ris,  Illinois,  and  uncertainty  is  also  entertained  by 
others,  which  I  attribute  to  unfamiliarity  with  the 
early  French  records  and  maps,  many  of  which,  it 
may  be  said,  have  not  long  been  accessible.  More 
than  a  score  of  maps  before  me  show  the  fort  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Illinois  river,  somewhere  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Fox  river  and  the  Vermilion. 
This  general  location  has  never  been  disputed,  but 
the  exact  place  of  the  Rock  is  the  matter  con- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  251 

troverted.  Before  turning  to  the  French  writers, 
every  one  of  whom  spent  either  days  or  months  or 
years  at  the  post,  one  may  well  read  what  Mr.  Arm 
strong  says,  in  his  valuable  article  on  "The  Piasa" : 

"Standing  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Illinois  river, 
about  eight  miles  below  the  city  of  Ottawa,  is  a  sin 
gularly  shaped  St.  Peter's  Sandstone  rock,  which 
rises  up  from  the  river's  edge  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  feet.  Its  surface  embraces  an  area  of 
about  half  an  acre*  and  is  overlaid  with  earth  sev 
eral  feet  deep,  studded  with  a  few  small  red  cedar 
trees.  It  is  circular  in  shape,  and  its  walls  are 
nearly  perpendicular,  except  a  small  space  on  the 
south  side,  where  persons  can  climb  up.  But  this 
passageway  is  so  narrow  that  it  was  easily  defended 
by  those  on  the  summit." 

Now  follows  La  Salle's  description  of  the  Rock, 
written  in  1682,  or  possibly  1683  (Margry,  II.,  175): 

"It  is  situated  six  leaguesf  below  the  said  village 
[Kaskaskia,  which  shifting  village  must  then  have 
been  near  the  mouth  of  the  Fox  river],  on  the  left 
bank  in  descending  the  river  on  the  summit  of  a 
rock,  steep  nearly  all  around;  the  river  bathes  at  the 
foot,  so  that  one  can  draw  water  to  the  top  of  the 
rock  which  is  about  six  hundred  feet  around.  It  is 
inaccessible  except  on  one  side,  where  the  ascent  is 
yet  quite  high." 

*  By  pacing  I  have  made  the  area  of  the  Rock  to  be  about 
f  of  an  acre  upon  its  level  summit,  but,  if  taken  over  all,  an 
acre  is  not  far  out  of  the  way.  Differences  in  the  way  of  meas 
uring  its  area  have  been  the  cause  of  the  different  estimates. 

f  A  French  land  league  was  then  2.42  miles.  Distances 
were  guessed  by  the  travelers,  who,  as  Charlevoix  says,  almost 
always  overestimated,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  traveling. 


252  LOST   MARAMECH 

La  Salle  again  wrote  (Margry,  II.,  122):  "The  vil 
lage  of  the  Illinois  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 
On  the  south  is  a  great  rock,  very  high,  sharp  and 
almost  everywhere  steep,  with  the  exception  of  one 
place,  where  it  inclines  to  the  edge  of  the  water." 

Nicholas  La  Salle  (said  by  Margry  not  to  have 
been  in  the  same  line  of  descent  as  the  great 
explorer)  wrote  in  1683:  "He  proceeded  to  make  a 
fort  of  wood  on  a  rock  on  the  border  of  the  river  of 
the  Illinois,  face  to  face  with  their  village." 

Tonty  says  (Margry,  I.,  613),  in  speaking  of  La 
Salle:  "He  came  to  join  me  on  the  3Oth  of  Decem 
ber,  and  during  the  winter  we  there  constructed  the 
Fort  of  St.  Louis  on  an  inaccessible  rock,  whither  La 
Salle  had  induced  the  Shawnees  to  come." 

Charlevoix,  who  visited  the  place  in  1721  (VI., 
119,  edition  of  1744),  makes  as  bad  an  estimate  of 
distances  as  any  when  he  places  the  fort  a  league 
from  Buffalo  Rock,  and  the  latter  only  a  league 
from  the  mouth  of  the  beautiful  "Pisticoui,"  the 
country  bordering  which  he  praises  so  highly.  "At 
the  end  of  another  league  [from  Buffalo  Rock, 
where  was  the  fort  of  the  Miamis],  on  the  left,  one 
sees  a  similar  rock,  which  has  been  named  sim 
ply  Le  Rocher;  this  is  a  plateau,  much  elevated, 
two  hundred  feet  of  which  border  the  river,  which 
river  is  here  much  enlarged.  The  Rock  is  almost 
perpendicular  and,  at  a  distance,  one  takes  it  for  a 
fortress.  One  yet  sees  there  some  remains  of  pali 
sades,  because  the  Illinois  had  formerly  made  there 
an  entrenchment,  in  which  it  was  easy  for  them  to 
seek  shelter  in  case  of  any  irruption  on  the  part  of 
their  enemies.  Their  village  is  at  the  foot  of  this 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  253 

rock  on  an  island,  which,  with  several  others,  all  of 
a  marvelous  fertility,  separate,  at  this  place,  the 
river  into  two  channels  quite  large." 

Joutel,  who  spent  the  winter  of  1687-88  at  the  fort, 
wrote:  "Fort  Louis  is  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois 
and  seated  on  a  steep  rock  about  two  hundred  feet 
high,  the  river  running  at  the  base  of  it.  It  is  forti 
fied  with  stakes  and  palisades  only,  and  some  houses 
advancing  to  the  edge  of  the  rock.  It  has  a  very 
spacious  esplanade,  or  place  of  arms.  The  place  is 
naturally  strong  and  might  be  made  more  so  by  art, 
at  little  expense.  Several  of  the  natives  live  in  it, 
in  their  huts." 

La  Potherie,  who  wrote  in  1704  (Vol.  II.,  141) 
says,  speaking  of  La  Salle:  "He  established  him 
self  upon  a  steep  rock,  which  was  accessible  only 
by  a  little  path." 

It  is  plain  to  one  familiar  with  the  surrounding 
country  that  these  descriptions  apply  to  none  other 
than  Starved  Rock. 

I  now  refer  to  Mathieu  Sagean,  whose  travels, 
both  real  and  imaginary,  extended  from  1683  to 
1699,  not  because  the  unlettered  man  can  be  consid 
ered  to  have  been  an  authority,  but  because  he  was 
a  contemporaneous  traveler  and  conversant  with  the 
country,  though  it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  saw  Fort 
St.  Louis.  In  the  following  (Margry,  VI.,  99)  he 
probably  repeats  descriptions  given  by  others:  "De 
La  Salle  and  his  troups  went  to  the  country'of  the 
Illinois,  another  nation  on  the  borders  of  the  said 
river,  about  eighty  leagues  farther  up,  where  they 
established  Fort  Saint  Louis,  upon  an  island  adjacent 
to  the  mainland,  with  which  they  communicated  by 


254  LOST   MARAMECH 

means  of  a  drawbridge.  It  took  six  or  seven  months 
to  build  the  fort,  with  the  help  of  the  savages,  after 
which  La  Salle,  having  left  De  Tonty,  a  French  gen 
tleman,  in  command,"  etc.  Reference  to  Tonty  as 
being  a  Frenchman,  shows  that  Sagean  knew  little 
of  him  personally,  but  his  description  of  the  Rock  is 
not  bad. 

The  opinion  that  the  site  of  the  fort  was  prac 
tically  an  island,  is  borne  out  by  the  facts;  for 
Starved  Rock  is  bounded  by  the  river  in  front,  and 
in  the  rear  by  ponds,  swamps  and  a  little  stream 
leading  therefrom. 

Accounts  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  a  bridge  led 
to  the  gate  of  the  palisades;  and  careful  digging 
out  of  the  debris,  with  a  cane,  disclosed  to  me  one 
of  the  steps,  and  part  of  the  other,  in  which  were 
laid  the  long  timbers  that  formed  the  stringers  of 
the  bridge  which,  only  a  few  feet  high,  reached, 
with  a  slight  incline,  part  way  up  the  steep  path 
way.  The  bridge  may  have  had  a  draw,  as  Sagean 
says;  probably  it  had,  for  that  would  have  been 
wise. 

I  seem  to  stand  again,  as  I  once  stood,  upon  the 
western  crest  of  the  Rock,  and  watch  the  coming 
storm.  Beautiful  islands  part  the  waters  of  the 
river,  and  the  down-pouring  sheet,  lighted  by  light 
ning  flashes,  hides,  as  it  approaches,  first  one  and 
then  another  of  the  verdure-clad  islands  until  the 
storm  bursts  with  fury,  as  if  to  attack  this  strong 
hold  of  Nature.  What  a  battle  of  the  elements! 
And,  after  the  storm,  what  beauty!  The  clouds  pass 
to  the  east;  a  vista  is  opened  to  the  north,  reaching 
far  over  fields  of  corn  so  like  those  of  the  long  ago. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  255 

Beyond  the  hills  are  the  prairies  where  for  centuries 
the  buffalo  grazed  and  were  hunted  for  food, 
raiment,  and  trade  by  the  people  of  the  valley.  To 
the  north  and  west,  upon  the  little  eminence  in  the 
direction  of  the  modern  town  of  Utica,  one  sees  the 
burial-places,  now  made  more  green  by  the  thirst- 
quenched  grasses.  What  opportunities  for  contem 
plation!  Upon  another  little  eminence,  where  a 
farmhouse  is  seen,  one  may  well  suppose  that  there 
the  Illinois,  when  attacked  by  the  Iroquois  in  1680, 
erected  the  temporary  fort  which  they  were  treacher 
ously  led  to  abandon  by  pretensions  of  peace.  To 
the  west  and  south  in  the  valley  we  can  place  the 
cabins  of  the  Shawnees,  the  Algonquin  tribe  that 
returned  to  the  north  not  many  years  before,  from  a 
sojourn  in  Florida.  Upon  the  hill  to  the  southeast 
the  marks  of  an  ancient  fortification  are  found,  and 
along  the  river  bank  a  few  mounds  mark  the  resting- 
places  of  an  earlier  people.  Burned  stones  and 
flint-chips  only  are  left  to  show  where  labored  the 
living  and  lie  the  dead.  The  canoes,  chiseled  from 
the  great  cottonwood  trees  that  bordered  the  banks 
then  as  now,  are  in  dust;  the  erstwhile  fields  upon 
the  islands  are  now  tended  by  alien  hands.  Beauti 
ful  full-clad  trees  border  these  cornfields  which  are 
no  greener  nor  better  tended  than  those  worked  by 
the  dark  daughters  of  the  field  and  forest,  when 
America  knew  no  white  race;  and  when  comes  the 
autumn  these  fields  are  no  richer  in  the  golden  yield 
that  forms  the  greatest  boon  ever  granted  to  a 
usurping  people,  than  those  garnered  by  the  red 
man.  Had  we  been  susceptible  another  boon  those 
people  might  have  left  us — a  greater  sense  of  virtue 


256  LOST    MARAMECH 

and  honesty  than  we  possess.  But  alas,  to  him  we 
taught  the  vices  of  civilization,  but  scoffed  at  him 
as  a  teacher  of  virtues! 

While  we  are  standing  upon  this  stronghold  of 
Nature  the  mind  wanders,  and  the  labors,  hopes,  and 
fears  of  several  generations  are  brought  before  us. 
Around  the  border  of  this  rock  is  still  the  heaped 
earth  that  held  the  palisades  placed  by  Tonty.  On 
the  western  crest  the  conformation  of  the  surface 
leads  us  to  think  that  it  was  there  La  Salle  planted 
one  of  his  little  cannon,  brought  in  bark  canoes  from 
Montreal.  Fragments  of  cinders  show  where  stood 
the  blacksmith's  forge,  fed  by  coal  found  near  by. 
Flint  chips  strew  the  surface,  and  these  indicate  that 
the  artisan  of  the  forge  was  not  the  only  maker  of 
arms  of  the  chase  and  weapons  of  war.  Near  the 
middle  of  the  summit  is  a  leveled  area  where,  no 
doubt,  stood  the  magazine  in  which  stores  for  trade 
and  peltry  received  in  trade  were  placed.  Along 
the  palisades,  to  the  south,  seem  to  have  been  the 
cabins  where  dwelt  the  officers  and  men  who  gar 
risoned  Fort  St.  Louis,  which  was  practically  the 
headquarters  of  France  in  the  fertile  prairie-lands 
of  the  west.  Where  stood  the  great  out-reaching 
poles,  placed  by  Tonty  to  aid  in  drawing  water  from 
the  river,  I  have  found  no  marks  to  determine;  but 
by  the  sides  of  the  narrow  stairway,  at  the  south, 
may  still  be  seen  one  well-preserved  niche,  and 
another  less  preserved,  showing  where  rested  the 
timbers  of  the  gangway  by  which  part  of  the  ascent 
was  made  easy,  and  up  and  over  which  the  timbers 
cut  for  palisades  were  drawn.  The  tooth  of  time 
has  changed  the  form  of  the  Rock,  no  doubt,  by  cut- 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  257 

ting  here  and  there.  One  may  now  step  down 
through  a  narrow  cleft  to  a  ledge,  upon  the  north 
side,  and  wend  his  way  to  the  river.  Starved  Rock 
has  now  two  places  of  ascent.  It  matters  little 
whether  this  stronghold  was  accessible  at  these  two 
points  when  the  tragedies  were  enacted,  for  each 
ascent  is  easy  of  defense.  Knowing  the  Rock  well, 
it  would  be  quite  possible  for  one  to  pass  down  the 
crevice  and  along  the  ledge,  in  the  darkness  of 
night,  and  reach  the  water.  Tradition  tells  us  of  at 
least  one  escape,  probably  by  this  way. 

Starved  Rock!  Why  so  called?  By  the  French 
it  was  christened  La  Roche.  We  know  not  by  what 
poetic  name  the  natives  knew  it.  The  story  of 
starvation,  as  told  by  tradition,  prompted  the  writer 
of  the  beautiful  romance,  to  which  I  have  referred, 
to  give  the  name  by  which  we  know  it  now.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  mouldering  bones,  turned  to  the 
sun  by  curiosity  hunters,  show  us  that  there  at  least 
was  death,  and  the  specter  of  hunger  at  once  rises 
before  us. 

Starved  Rock!  When  we  read  Tonty's  account, 
what  so  stirs  us  at  the  sound  of  that  name? 
When  gazing  over  this  placid  river,  its  waters  gli 
ding  at  the  foot,  the  scene  becomes  animated;  the 
whole  a  battlefield  where,  two  centuries  ago,  the 
Illinois  fought  for  life  and  the  Iroquois  for  scalps 
and  slaves — a  scene  of  carnage  and  flight.  In  the 
fields  of  corn  I  seem  to  see  the  Iroquois  busy  gather 
ing  a  supply  to  serve  them  in  their  pursuit  of  the 
fleeing  Illinois;  to  see,  not  many  leagues  down  the 
river,  on  the  little  peninsula,  the  loved  ones  of 
the  warriors,  anxious  and  watching,  awaiting  any  turn 


258  LOST   MARAMECH 

of  events  that  will  permit  escape  from  torture.  I 
seem  to  see  the  council  where  stood  Tonty  pleading 
for  peace  between  the  invaders  and  the  invaded;  to 
hear  the  Jroquois  chief  boasting  that  they  will  eat  the 
Illinois.  There  Tonty,  in  his  anger,  kicks  away  the 
package  of  beaver  skins  intended  to  bribe  him  to 
forsake  the  Illinois,  and  then  I  see  the  flashing  eyes 
of  the  chief  who  warns  him  to  leave  at  once. 
Tonty  and  his  companions  take  heed  and  paddle 
laboriously  against  the  rapid  current.  The  Illinois 
have  left  their  village  to  seek  their  women  and  chil 
dren,  and  the  Iroquois  soon  start  in  pursuit,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river.  Day  after  day  we  trace 
them;  the  followers  hurry  on  to  keep  pace  with  the 
followed,  the  river  only  between  them.  Sad  indeed 
the  fate  of  the  pursued!  As  they  pass  along  the 
river  they  disperse,  the  better  to  escape;  but  a  por 
tion  are  overtaken,  and  warriors,  women,  and  chil 
dren,  are  burned  at  the  stake  or  led  prisoners  to  the 
homes  of  the  Iroquois.  Many  charred  bodies  stand 
ing  tied  to  trees  tell  the  sad,  sad  ending. 

So  calm  that  river!  Who  can  tell  where,  in  our 
country,  more  blood  was  ever  shed  than  flowed  and 
enriched  the  sod  along  its  banks? 


CHAPTER  XV 

By  1728  patience  had  again  ceased  to  be  a  virtue 
with  the  French,  and  again  they  sought  utterly  to 
annihilate  the  Foxes.  The  adventure  of  De 
Lignerie  is  told  us  by  the  Recollet  Father  Emanuel 
Crespel.  (Smith's  His.  Wis.,  I.,  339.)  The  father 
recites  that  he  was  withdrawn  from  his  curacy  and 
appointed  confessor  to  a  party  of  four  hundred 
Frenchmen  which  the  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  had 
joined  to  eight  or  nine  hundred  savages,  principally 
Iroquois,  partly  of  the  Christian  branch  settled 
among  the  French.  We  shall  see  how  much  influ 
ence  the  gentle  father  had  in  softening  the  hearts  of 
the  French  and  their  allies. 

The  troops  commanded  by  De  Lignerie  "were 
commissioned  to  go  and  destroy  a  nation  called  the 
Foxes."  The  journey  was  begun  on  the  fifth  of 
June,  1728,  by  passing  up  the  Ottawa  river  in  birch- 
bark  canoes.  Portage  was  made  into  Lake  Nip- 
pissing,  and  thence  into  Georgian  Bay.  While 
passing  up  the  Ottawa  and  the  smaller  rivers  on 
their  way,  as  it  was  not  possible  for  all  to  travel 
together,  the  army  was  divided  into  small  parties, 
and  the  first  to  pass  awaited  the  others  at  a  place 
called  the  Prairie,  on  the  border  of  Lake  Huron. 
At  the  time  of  embarkation  from  that  point,  July 
26,  the  father  celebrated  mass  and,  no  doubt,  offered 
prayers  for  the  interposition  of  Divine  Providence 
on  behalf  of  the  Frenchmen  and,  possibly,  for  favor- 

259 


260  LOST   MARAMECH 

able  winds.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  winds  hurried 
them  on  to  such  an  extent  that  they  reached  Macki 
naw,  about  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  distant,  in 
six  days,  where  the  good  father  takes  the  pains  to 
tell  us  that  he  consecrated  two  flags.  The  army 
soon  departed  and  entered  Lake  Michigan,  but  was 
there  detained  two  days  by  the  wind.  Ill  though 
the  winds  were,  they  blew  some  good,  for  it  gave 
the  hungry  party  an  opportunity  to  take  several 
moose  and  elk.  "The  hunters  were  so  polite,"  the 
father  adds,  "as  to  offer  to  share  with  us.  We 
made  some  objections  at  first,  but  they  compelled  us 
to  accept  their  present,  saying  that,  since  we  had 
shared  with  them  the  fatigues  of  the  journey,  it  was 
right  that  they  should  share  with  us  the  comforts 
which  they  had  found,  and  that  they  should  not  con 
sider  themselves  as  men  if  they  acted  in  a  different 
manner  toward  others." 

The  discourse,  which  one  of  the  men  translated 
into  French,  affected  the  father  very  much,  and  he 
cried:  "What  humanity  in  savages,  and  how  many 
men  might  be  found  in  Europe  to  whom  the  title  of 
barbarian  might  much  better  be  applied  than  to  these 
inhabitants  of  America!  The  generosity  of  our  sav 
ages  merited  the  most  lively  gratitude  on  our  part." 
The  army  passed  along  down  to  Green  Bay,  and, 
says  the  father:  "The  next  day  we  crossed  over  to 
the  Folles  Avoines*  in  order  to  invite  [provoke]  the 
inhabitants  to  come  and  oppose  our  landing.  They 
fell  into  the  trap  and  were  entirely  defeated."  The 
Christian  father  was  indeed  very  much  affected  by 
the  kindness  of  the  Indian  huntsmen,  but  he  does 

*  A  harmless  tribe  on  Green  Bay. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  261 

not  tell  us  that  the  setting  of  a  trap,  into  which 
these  poor  people  fell  and  hence  were  defeated, 
excited  any  feeling  of  pity  in  his  heart.  "About 
midday,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "on  the  i/th  we  were 
ordered  to  halt  until  evening  in  order  that  we  might 
reach  the  post  at  The  Bay  during  the  night,  as  we 
wished  to  surprise  the  enemy  who  we  knew  were 
staying  with  their  allies,  the  Sacs,  whose  village  lies 
near  Fort  St.  Francis.  At  twilight  [dusk]  we  com 
menced  our  march,  and  about  midnight  we  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Fox  river,  at  which  point  our 
fort  is  built.  As  soon  as  we  had  arrived  there  M.  de 
Lignerie  sent  some  Frenchmen  to  the  commandant 
to  ascertain  if  the  enemy  were  really  at  the  village 
of  the  Sacs,  and,  having  learned  that  we  ought  [were 
likely]  still  to  find  them  there,  he  caused  all  the 
savages  and  a  detachment  of  French  troops  to  cross 
over  the  river  in  order  to  surround  the  habitations, 
and  then  ordered  the  rest  of  our  troops  to  enter  the 
village.  Notwithstanding  the  precautions  that  had 
been  taken  to  conceal  our  arrival,  the  savages  had 
received  information  of  it,  and  all  had  escaped  with 
the  exception  of  four.  These  were  presented  to  our 
savages,  who,  after  having  diverted  themselves  with 
them,  shot  them  to  death  with  arrows." 

Although  the  good  father  was  not  shocked  at  the 
trap  that  was  set,  into  which  the  Folles  Avoines 
fell  and  in  which  they  were  killed,  yet  his  heart  soft 
ened  later,  for  he  continues:  "I  was  much  pained 
to  witness  this  terrible  spectacle,  and  the  pleasure 
which  our  savages  took  in  making  these  unfortunate 
persons  suffer,  causing  them  to  undergo  the  horror 
of  thirty  deaths  before  depriving  them  of  life,  I 


262  LOST   MARAMECH 

could  not  make  accord  with  the  manner  in  which 
they  had  appeared  some  days  before.  I  would 
willingly  have  asked  them  if  they  did  not  perceive, 
as  I  did,  this  opposition  of  sentiment,  and  have 
pointed  out  to  them  what  I  saw  commendable  in 
their  proceedings;  but  those  of  our  party  who 
might  have  served  as  interpreters  were  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  and  I  was  obliged  to  postpone 
until  another  time  the  satisfaction  of  my  curiosity. 
After  this  little  coup  de  main  we  went  up  Fox 
river,  which  is  full  of  rapids  and  is  about  thirty- 
five  or  forty  leagues  in  length.  The  24th  of  August 
[1726]  we  arrived  at  the  village  of  the  Puants  [Win- 
nebagos],  much  disposed  to  destroy  any  inhabitant 
that  might  be  found  there;  but  their  flight  had  pre 
ceded  our  arrival,  and  we  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
burn  their  wigwams  and  ravage  their  fields  of  Indian 
corn,  which  is  their  principal  article  of  food.  We 
afterward  crossed  over  the  little  Fox  lake,  at  the 
end  of  which  we  camped;  and  the  next  day  (day  of 
St.  Louis),  after  mass,  we  entered  a  small  river 
which  conducted  us  into  a  kind  of  swamp,  on  the 
borders  of  which  were  situated  the  grand  habitations 
of  those  we  were  in  search  of.  Their  allies,  the 
Sacs,  doubtless  informed  them  of  our  approach,  and 
they  did  not  deem  it  advisable  to  await  our  arrival, 
for  we  found  in  their  village  only  a  few  women, 
whom  our  savages  made  their  slaves,  and  an  old 
man,  whom  they  burned  to  death  at  a  slow  fire  with 
out  appearing  to  entertain  the  least  repugnance 
toward  committing  so  barbarous  an  action." 

Again  the  sentiments  of  the  father  seem  to  have 
been  somewhat  mixed.     Whether  the  burning  was 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  263 

repugnant  to  him  (such  as  was  practiced  as  a  means 
of  conversions  in  some  parts  of  Europe  at  that 
time),  or  the  burning  of  an  old  man  because  he  was 
an  enemy,  we  are  left  to  judge  for  ourselves.  I  am 
led  to  believe  that  the  father  was  very  human,  not 
withstanding  his  assumed  divine  mission.  Farther 
on  the  father  tells  us:  "This  appeared  to  me  a  more 
striking  act  of  cruelty  than  that  which  had  been 
experienced  toward  the  four  savages  found  in  the 
village  of  the  Sacs.  I  seized  upon  this  occasion  and 
circumstance  to  satisfy  my  curiosity  about  that  of 
which  I  have  just  been  speaking.  There  was  in  our 
company  a  Frenchman  who  could  speak  the  Iro- 
quois  language.  I  entreated  him  to  tell  the  savages 
that  I  was  surprised  to  see  them  take  so  much  pleas 
ure  in  tormenting  an  unfortunate  old  man;  that  the 
rights  of  war  did  not  extend  so  far,  and  that  an  act 
so  barbarous  appeared  to  me  to  be  in  direct  opposi 
tion  to  the  principle  which  they  had  professed  to 
entertain  toward  all  men.  I  was  answered  by  an 
Iroquois  who,  in  order  to  justify  his  companions, 
said  that  when  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Foxes 
and  Sacs  they  were  treated  with  still  greater  cruelty, 
and  that  it  was  their  custom  to  treat  their  enemies 
in  the  same  manner  that  they  would  be  treated  by 
them  if  they  were  vanquished.  I  was  about  to  give 
him  some  further  reasons  when  the  orders  were 
given  to  advance  upon  the  last  stronghold  of  the 
enemy.  This  post  is  situated  upon  the  borders  of  a 
small  river  which  empties  into  another  called  the 
Wisconsin,  which  latter  discharges  itself  into  the 
Mississippi,  about  thirty  leagues  from  there.  We 
found  no  person  there,  and  as  we  had  no  orders  to 


264  LOST   MARAMECH 

go  any  farther,  we  employed  ourselves  several  days 
in  destroying  the  fields  in  order  to  deprive  the 
enemy  of  the  means  of  subsisting  there." 

Beauharnois  did  not  regard  the  march  as  useless. 
"It  is  certain,"  he  wrote  September  ist,  1728,  to  the 
French  minister  of  war,  "that  half  of  these  nations, 
who  number  four  thousands  souls,  will  die  of  hun 
ger,  and  that  they  will  come  in  and  ask  for  mercy." 

In  a  private  letter  he  repeats  his  instructions  to 
De  Lignerie  in  regard  to  the  expedition.  The  let 
ter  states  that  De  Lignerie  made  use  of  all  his  skill 
in  his  efforts  to  succeed  in  the  expedition,  but  found 
it  impossible  to  surprise  the  enemy,  they  having 
knowledge  of  his  march.  Three  Puants  and  a  Fox, 
who  were  discovered  by  some  Sacs  whom  he  had 
brought  from  Mackinaw,  were  taken  by  him.  These 
four  savages  were  bound  and  sent  to  the  tribes,  who 
put  them  to  death  the  next  day.  He  afterward 
continued  his  march,  Beauharnois  writes,  at  the 
head  of  one  thousand  savages  and  four  hundred  and 
fifty  Frenchmen,  to  the  village  of  the  Puants,  and 
then  to  that  of  the  Foxes,  who  had  fled,  some 
escaping  by  swimming.  In  the  four  villages  he 
captured  two  women  and  a  girl  and  a  man,  who 
were  killed  and  burned.  The  Foxes  had  left  four 
days  before,  taking  the  old  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren  in  canoes.  Marching  by  land  the  warriors  kept 
pace  along  the  banks.  De  Lignerie  urged  his  allies 
to  pursue  the  Foxes,  but  only  a  portion  would  con 
sent,  the  others  saying  that  the  Foxes  were  too 
much  in  the  lead  to  be  overtaken.  The  French  had 
nothing  to  eat  but  Indian  corn,  and  having  a  march 
of  about  four  hundred  leagues  before  them  on  their 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  265 

return,  by  which  the  safety  of  the  army  was  endan 
gered,  it  was  decided  to  burn  the  four  Fox  villages, 
their  forts,  and  their  huts,  and  to  destroy  all  that 
they  could  find  in  their  fields — Indian  corn,  beans, 
and  pumpkins,  of  which  they  had  a  great  abundance. 
The  French  and  allies  did  the  same  execution 
among  the  Puants. 

In  returning,  the  French  passed  by  a  village  of 
Sacs.  These  savages  told  the  Marquis,  in  a  council 
of  the  tribes,  that  they  no  longer  wished  to  stay 
with  the  French,  for  fear  of  the  Foxes,  and  that  they 
were  going  to  retire  to  the  river  St.  Joseph.  As 
he  could  not  reassure  the  Sacs,  De  Lignerie  burned 
the  fort  lest  the  Foxes  or  their  allies  should  take 
possession  of  it  and  thus  fortify  themselves  and 
make  war  upon  the  Folles  Avoines,  said,  since  their 
defeat,  to  have  become  allies  of  the  French. 

The  failure  of  De  Lignerie  was  attributed  to  his 
long  stay  at  Mackinaw  and  to  the  fact  that  a  Potta- 
watomie,  who  had  come  from  Green  Bay  with  four 
others,  three  of  whom  did  not  appear,  was  sent  back 
to  his  comrades  by  De  Lignerie  to  say  that  he  had 
come  to  talk  with  the  tribes  there,  and  even  with 
the  Foxes,  who  were  two  days  distant.  At  this  the 
Pottawatomie  warned  the  Foxes  of  all  that  he  had 
seen  in  the  army,  and  they  fled  at  once.  The 
French  and  allies  wished  to  march  upon  them,  but 
De  Lignerie  would  not  hasten  his  departure.  The 
murmur  was  very  general  against  him  in  the  army, 
and  the  savages  in  their  speeches  did  not  spare  him. 

De  Lignerie  had  attempted  to  make  peace  with 
the  Foxes  and  other  tribes  in  1726,  when  it  was 
thought  best  to  grant  the  request  of  Ouchata,  the 


266  LOST   MARAMECH 

principal  chief  of  the  Foxes,  to  have  a  French  offi 
cer  in  the  country  to  aid  him  in  restraining  his  young 
warriors  from  bad  thoughts  and  actions.  It  was 
believed  better,  however,  that  the  commandant  at 
La  Point,  on  Lake  Superior,  endeavor  to  withdraw 
the  Sioux  from  an  alliance  with  the  Foxes,  which  it 
was  thought  might  be  done  by  presents,  and  lead 
them  to  hope  for  a  missionary  and  other  French 
men,  as  they  had  often  desired.  It  was  afterward 
regretted  that  the  same  instructions  were  not  given 
to  the  officers  commanding  at  Detroit  and  at  the 
river  St.  Joseph,  in  order  that  the  neighboring 
nations  might  be  detached  from  the  Foxes,  and 
that  those  officers,  in  case  of  war,  might  be  able  to 
prevent  the  Foxes  from  seeking  an  asylum  with  the 
Iroquois,  or  with  any  other  nation  where  they  might 
secrete  themselves.  De  Siette,  who  then  com 
manded  in  the  Illinois  country,  had  written  De 
Lignerie  that  the  Foxes  were  afraid  of  treachery, 
and  that  the  surest  mode  of  securing  peace  was  to 
exterminate  them. 

As  we  read  all  this  (which  will  be  found  in  Wis. 
Hist.  Col.,  III.,  148),  we  are  not  surprised  that  the 
Foxes  were  afraid  of  treachery.  It  seems  as  if  it 
had  been  recommended  to  allay  their  fears  by  mur 
dering  them — a  very  effective  remedy  surely.  De 
Siette  had  made  this  proposition  to  the  council- 
general  at  New  Orleans,  and  had  expressed  the 
same  opinion  to  the  "directors  of  the  Company  of 
the  Indies."  In  this  account  we  find  that  it  was 
held  that  such  a  course  would  be  the  best  expedient, 
but  that  nothing  would  be  more  dangerous  or  more 
prejudicial  to  the  colonies  of  Canada  and  Louisiana 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  267 

than  such  an  enterprise  in  case  of  failure.  It  was 
thought  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  effect  a  sur 
prise  and  keep  them  shut  up  in  a  fort,  as  in  the  last 
war  (at  Detroit,  1712),  for  in  case  of  escape  the 
Foxes  and  Sioux  or  the  lowas  would  return  to 
destroy  all  the  upper  country;  and  that  the  French 
of  both  colonies  would  be  unable  to  pass  from  post 
to  post  except  at  the  risk  of  robbery  and  murder. 
It  was  recommended  that  De  Siette  should  cause  to 
be  restored  to  the  Foxes,  by  the  Illinois,  whatever 
prisoners  that  they  had  with  them,  and  De  Lignerie 
made  the  Foxes  promise  to  send  back  to  the  Illinois 
their  prisoners.  It  was  recommended  that  the 
example  of  the  other  commandants  who,  by  burning 
the  Fox  prisoners  that  fell  into  their  hands,  had 
thought  to  intimidate  the  Foxes  and  cause  them  to 
lay  down  their  arms,  be  not  followed,  as  that  only 
served  to  irritate  that  people  and  aroused  their 
strongest  hatred  against  the  French. 

In  the  council  of  June  7,  1728,  De  Lignerie  spoke 
to  the  tribes  there  assembled,  demanding  that  they 
go  next  spring  to  Green  Bay  and  labor  to  put  an  end 
to  the  unjust  war  which  these  nations  were  waging 
against  the  Illinois.  The  Foxes  replied  that  "since 
the  Great  King  extended  his  hand  to  them  to  signify 
that  he  pitied  them,  their  children  and  women,  the 
speaker  gave  his  word  to  use  his  efforts  toward 
peace,  and  although  the  young  Fox  warriors  were 
then  at  war,  he  expected  to  gain  them  over." 
(Wis.  Hist.  Col.,  III.,  152.) 

The  chiefs  of  the  nations  assembled  were  well  dis 
posed,  and  saw  very  clearly  that  there  could  be  no 
hope  for  them  except  in  obedience  to  the  king. 


268  LOST   MARAMECH 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  a  party  of  Foxes 
struck  the  Chippevvas  who,  being  put  on  the  defen 
sive,  killed  one  Fox  and  wounded  three.  They  were 
not  contented,  however,  and  would  have  got  up  a 
party  of  warriors  to  attack  the  Foxes  had  they  not 
been  prevented  by  presents,  and  hopes  held  out  to 
them  that  the  Foxes  would  lay  down  the  war-club. 
Beauharnois  wrote  from  Quebec,  October  I,  of  the 
same  year  (1726),  expressing  great  satisfaction  that 
peace  had  been  effected  with  the  Foxes.  De  Lign- 
erie,  he  informs  us,  says  that  since  the  chiefs  of 
the  Foxes  and  Sacs  gave  their  word  to  no  more  war 
against  the  Illinois,  two  small  war-parties  of  young 
men  of  the  Fox  nation  had  gone  to  avenge  the  death 
of  one  of  their  relatives;  that  the  greater  part  of 
both  parties,  composed  of  ten  men,  had  been 
entirely  defeated;  that  four  of  them  had  been  killed 
on  the  spot,  four  wounded  and  taken  prisoners  by 
the  Illinois,  and  that  the  two  who  escaped  were 
wounded.  "If  the  Illinois  are  careful,"  he  says, 
"this  affair  will  have  no  further  bad  results;  they 
have  but  to  send  the  prisoners  they  have  taken  to 
the  Fox  village  with  presents  to  cover  their  dead, 
according  to  usage,  by  which  means  they  will  dis 
arm  the  Foxes  and  prevent  them  from  forming  new 
parties."  (Wis.  Hist.  Col,  III.,  159.) 


The  present  and  future. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

In  the  autumn  of  1727  Beauharnois  felt  that  he 
foresaw  the  necessity  of  again  making  war  upon  the 
Foxes,  and  he  wrote  to  that  effect  to  De  Siette,  com 
mandant  at  the  Illinois.  A  copy  of  a  letter  De 
Siette  had  previously  written  was  sent  to  Montreal 
to  be  considered  by  the  officers  there  assembled. 
On  August  24,  1727,  Beauharnois  informed  De  Siette 
by  letter  that  "not  being  able  any  longer  to  rely 
upon  the  word  of  the  Foxes  given  De  Lignerie, 
promising  to  remain  at  peace,  and  as,  especially 
since  the  death  of  their  chiefs,  war-parties  are  daily 
being  formed,  he  had  determined  to  make  war  upon 
them  the  coming  year." 

May  29,  1729,  Father  Guignas,  who  accompanied 
the  expedition  to  the  Sioux,  wrote  to  Beauharnois 
that  the  expedition  delayed  departure  some  time 
hoping  to  learn  from  Montreal  what  were  the  inten 
tions  as  to  overcoming  the  extreme  difficulty  usually 
encountered  when  passing  through  the  country  of 
the  Foxes.  Hearing  nothing,  the  party  departed 
from  Mackinaw,  and  reached  Green  Bay  on  the  8th 
of  August.  They  soon  passed  on  and  met  some  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  Puants,  who  received  them  kindly 
and  feasted  them.  The  expedition  soon  reached 
the  village  of  the  Foxes,  twenty-two  leagues  (about 
fifty-two  miles)  from  Green  Bay.  The  father  speaks 
of  these  people  as  not  being  so  formidable  as 
reported: 

269 


270  LOST   MARAMECH 

"Early  the  next  morning,  the  I5th  of  the  month 
of  August,  the  convoy  prepared  to  continue  its  route 
with  quite  pleasant  weather;  but  a  storm  coming  on 
in  the  afternoon,  we  arrived  quite  wet,  still  in  the 
rain,  at  the  cabins  of  the  Foxes,  a  nation  so  much 
dreaded  and  really  so  little  to  be  dreaded.  From 
all  that  we  could  see,  it  is  composed  of  two  hundred 
men  at  most,  but  there  is  a  perfect  hive  of  children, 
especially  boys  from  ten  to  fourteen  years  old,  well 
made  and  formed.  They  are  cabined  on  a  little 
eminence  on  the  bank  of  a  small  river,  that  bears 
their  name,  extremely  tortuous  or  winding,  so  that 
you  are  constantly  boxing  the  compass.  Yet  it  is 
apparently  quite  wide,  with  a  chain  of  hills  on  both 
sides,  but  there  is  only  one  miserable  little  channel 
amid  this  extent  of  apparent  bed,  which  is  a  kind  of 
marsh  full  of  rushes  and  wild  rice  of  almost  impen 
etrable  thickness.  They  have  nothing  but  mere  bark 
cabins  without  any  kind  of  palisade  or  other  fortifi 
cation.  As  soon  as  the  French  canoes  touched  their 
shore,  they  ran  down  with  their  peace  calumets 
lighted  in  spite  of  the  rain,  and  all  smoked. 

"We  staid  among  them  the  rest  of  this  day  and 
all  the  next,  to  know  what  were  their  designs  and 
ideas  as  to  the  French  post  among  the  Sioux.  The 
Sieur  Reaume,  interpreter  of  Indian  languages  at 
The  Bay,  acted  efficiently  there  and  with  devotion  to 
the  king's  service.  Even  if  my  testimony,  sir, 
should  be  deemed  not  impartial,  I  must  have  the 
honor  to  tell  you  that  Rev.  Father  Chardon,  an  old 
missionary,  was  of  very  great  assistance  there,  and 
the  presence  of  three  missionaries  who  were  there, 
reassured  these  cut-throats  and  assassins  of  the 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  271 

French  more  than  all  the  speeches  of  the  best 
orators  could  have  done.  A  general  council  was 
convened  in  one  of  the  cabins;  they  were  addressed 
in  decent  and  friendly  terms,  and  they  replied  in  the 
same  way.  A  small  present  was  made  to  them.  On 
their  side  they  gave  some  quite  handsome  dishes 
lined  with  dry  meat." 

Referring  to  the  establishment  of  the  French 
among  the  Sioux,  Beauharnois,  in  a  letter  to  the 
minister  of  the  colonies,  wrote  in  substance:  "The 
interest  of  religion  and  of  the  colonies  is  involved 
in  the  maintenance  of  this  establishment,  which  has 
been  the  more  necessary,  as  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  Foxes,  when  routed,  would  have  found  an 
asylum  among  the  Sioux  had  not  the  French  been 
sent  there.  The  docility  and  submissiveness  mani 
fested  by  the  Foxes  cannot  be  attributed  to  any 
cause  except  the  good-will  entertained  by  the  Sioux 
for  the  French  and  the  offers  which  the  former  made 
the  latter,  of  which  the  Foxes  were  fully  cognizant. 
It  would  be  necessary  to  retain  the  Sioux  in  their 
favorable  disposition  in  order  to  keep  the  Foxes 
respectful  and  defeat  the  measures  they  might  adopt 
to  gain  over  the  Sioux,  who  will  always  reject  their 
propositions  so  long  as  the  French  will  remain  in 
their  country  and  their  trading  post  there  continue. 
The  Foxes  will,  in  all  probability,  come  next  year 
to  sue  for  peace;  therefore,  if  it  be  granted  to  them 
on  advantageous  conditions,  there  need  be  no  appre 
hension  when  going  to  the  Sioux;  and  another  com 
pany  could  be  formed,  less  numerous  than  the  first, 
with  whom  one  would  make  a  new  treaty,  or  make 
It  with  some  responsible  merchants  able  to  afford 


272  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  outfitting,  whereby  these  difficulties  would  be 
soon  obviated."     (Affluents  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  459.) 

We  now  come  to  the  most  interesting  series  of 
events  in  the  history  of  the  Foxes.  There  are  many 
traditions,  military  reports,  and  references  made  by 
parties  having  had  knowledge  of  important  events, 
but  as  every  one  interested  reported  matters  as  they 
appeared  from  his  point  of  view,  there  is  no  exact 
agreement. 

Historians  do  agree,  however,  that  in  1730  a  large 
part  of  the  Fox  tribe  was  annihilated;  but  where  the 
defeat  took  place  has  been  lost  to  history.  David 
son  says:  "The  worst  event  of  the  war  occurred  near 
Rock  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois  river."  (Unnamed 
Wisconsin,  p.  22.)  Hebbard  tells  of  the  affair,  but 
gives  no  opinion  as  to  where  it  took  place.  (Wis 
consin  under  the  Dominion  of  France.}  Parkman  says: 
"The  accounts  of  the  affair  are  obscure  and  not  very 
trustworthy.  It  seems  that  the  Outagamies  [Foxes] 
began  the  affray  by  an  attack  on  the  Illinois  at  La 
Salle's  old  station  Le  Rocher,  on  the  river  Illinois." 
(Half  Century  of  Conflict. ) 

The  physical  geography  of  the  region  about 
Starved  Rock  enables  me  to  determine  absolutely 
that  Parkman' s  guess  is  wrong,  and  further  geo 
graphical  and  historical  knowledge  enables  me  to  say 
where  the  persecuted  tribe  met  its  greatest  and  last 
defeat.  The  earliest  definite  account  of  the  struggle 
is  found  in  the  report  of  Beauharnois,  dated  May  6, 
1730.  In  his  reports  we  read  of  an  encounter  of  a 
party  of  warriors  from  several  tribes  with  eighty 
Foxes.  Various  events  of  about  that  time  are  also 
mentioned.  (Wis.  Hist.  Col.,  VIII.,  245.) 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  273 

Perriere  Marin  was  a  native  of  France,  who  estab 
lished  a  place  of  deposit,  called  Fort  Marin,  on  the 
Mississippi,  a  short  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin  river,  near  what  is  now  Wyalusing,  and 
also  another  near  Mackinaw.  Between  these  two 
points  Marin  conducted  an  extensive  traffic  over  the 
route  formed  by  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers.  He 
was  obliged  to  curry  favor  with  the  Foxes  who  lived 
along  the  banks  of  the  river  of  that  name,  at  or  near 
Little  Butte  des  Morts,  and  to  submit  to  the  exac 
tions  of  these  people,  in  the  form  of  tribute.  The 
acts  of  the  Foxes  were  very  much  like  those  of  the 
buccaneers  of  the  West  Indies,  or,  we  may  say,  of 
modern  nations  that  exact  duties  on  goods  entering 
their  country;  and  hence  we  cannot  say  that  the 
Foxes  were  much  worse  than  the  people  of  the  civil 
ized  nations.  Be  that  as  it  may,  these  repeated 
piratical  acts,  as  Marin  considered  them,  determined 
him  to  drive  the  Foxes  from  their  position.  Tradi 
tion  and  vague  accounts  of  his  eventful  expedition 
leave  some  doubt  as  to  the  exact  date  of  his  first 
attack,  but  it  was  probably  as  early  as  the  year  1730. 
He  raised  a  considerable  force  at  Mackinaw,  which 
was  increased  by  friendly  Indians  of  Green  Bay. 
They  embarked,  each  boat  having  a  full  complement 
of  men,  well  armed  and  concealed  by  tarpaulins 
large  enough  to  cover  the  whole  boat,  such  as  were 
generally  used  to  protect  goods  from  the  weather. 
Near  the  rapids,  about  three  miles  below  but  not 
within  view  of  the  Little  Butte  des  Morts,  the  party 
divided,  one  portion  going  by  land  to  the  rear  of 
the  village  to  support  the  attack  which  was  to  be 
made  by  the  other  party  in  the  front  from  the  boats. 


274  LOST   MARAMECH 

The  men  in  the  boats,  with  their  guns  ready  for  use, 
were  concealed  by  the  covers,  except  two  men  at 
the  oars.  The  Foxes  discovered  the  approach  of 
the  trader's  fleet,  as  they  supposed  it  to  be,  and 
placed  out  their  torch  and  posted  themselves  along 
the  bank  and  awaited  the  landing  of  the  boats  and 
the  payment  of  the  customary  exaction.  When 
near  enough  for  an  effective  attack,  the  tarpaulins 
were  thrown  off  and  a  volley  of  musketry  and  two 
swivel-guns,  loaded  with  grape  and  canister,  was  fired 
by  the  soldiers,  which  scattered  death  among  the 
unsuspecting  savages.  The  living  fled  to  their  fort  to 
prepare  for  defense,  and  were  pursued  by  the  troops. 
A  Menominee  warrior  had  stealthily  entered  the  vil 
lage  and  set  fire  to  the  large  bark  dwellings  on  the 
windward  side,  and  they  were  soon  consumed  by 
the  flames.  The  Foxes  in  despair  sought  safety  in 
flight,  but  were  met  by  the  party  which  had  inter 
cepted  their  retreat,  and  they  found  themselves 
between  two  fires.  Bullet  and  tomahawk  soon 
began  their  work,  and  the  scalping-knife  reaped  a 
rich  harvest. 

"The  time  occupied  by  the  bloody  tragedy  was 
not  long,"  says  Hon.  Moses  Strong,  from  whose 
papers  I  have  chosen  to  cull  these  facts,  "but  in 
strategy,  surprise,  and  sanguinary  execution  it 
probably  has  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  Indian 
warfare.  Most  of  the  Foxes  were  killed  or  taken 
prisoners,  but  a  few  escaped  up  the  river,  and  others 
were  absent  at  the  time  of  the  engagement." 

Whether  Marin  was  warranted  in  such  "strategy" 
or  not,  I  shall  not  say,  but  do  not  hesitate  to  state 
that  I  know  of  no  greater  display  of  savagery  on  the 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  275 

part  of  the  red  savages  than  the  attack  by  the  white 
savages  upon  these  people,  who  for  years  had  been 
paid  tribute  and  were  merely  waiting  on  the  shore 
for  the  customary  distribution  of  gewgaws.  It  may 
have  been  this  barbarous  attack  of  Marin  that 
formed  the  final  incentive  to  the  flight  toward  the 
Iroquois  which  ended  in  the  massacre  at  the  site  of 
the  ancient  Miami  town  of  Maramech. 

Some  time  early  in  1730  the  Foxes  sent  two  stone 
axes  to  the  young  warriors  of  the  Seneca  branch  of 
the  Iroquois,  who  gave  them  to  the  Sachems,  and 
the  latter,  in  turn,  to  the  Governor  of  Canada. 
This  was  the  initial  move  in  the  last  great  tragedy. 
By  this  present  the  Foxes  requested  that  they 
might  come  and  live  near  the  Senecas  and  join  them 
in  their  campaigns.  The  Senecas  were  warned  by 
the  French  not  to  accept  the  proposition  of  the 
Foxes.  That  the  Six  Nations*  (the  Iroquois)  were 
altogether  too  strong,  the  French  had  been  forced  to 
believe;  but  the  English,  it  is  evident,  favored  the 
move,  and  had  often  recommended  the  same  or  sim 
ilar  plans  to  the  Senecas. 

The  Governors  of  New  France  had  several  times 
been  ordered  to  annihilate  the  Fox  tribe,  and  it 
became  their  purpose  to  make  more  strenuous  efforts 
than  ever  before.  Saint  Ange  was  in  command  at 
Fort  Chartres,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  near  what 
was  then  the  new  Kaskaskia.  It  was  a  French  set 
tlement,  and  to  it  the  Illinois  tribes  had  come  and 
brought  with  them  the  name  of  the  erstwhile  great 
Illinois  town,  near  Starved  Rock,  which  they  had 

*  After  defeating  and  absorbing  the  Tuscaroras  the  Iroquois 
were  known  as  the  Six  Nations. 


276  LOST   MARAMECH 

been  forced  to  abandon  years  before.  The  Illinois 
held  themselves  in  readiness  for  revenge  on  the 
Foxes  and  seemed  willing  to  proceed  with  Saint 
Ange,  but  when  others  were  ready  they  held  back 
for  some  unknown  reason.  The  French  jeered  them, 
declaring  that  they  were  only  women  and  conse 
quently  did  not  know  how  to  fight.  Slavery  was 
then  one  of  the  barbarous  institutions  at  Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia,  and  other  towns  adjoining  Fort  Chartres; 
and  the  Frenchmen  declared  to  the  Illinois  that 
they  would  take  their  negro  slaves  and  join  the 
other  savages  and  defeat  the  Foxes.  We  know  not 
what  orders  were  given  Saint  Ange  except  that  he 
should  direct  his  march  toward  the  Rock.  We 
are  not  told  whether  he  passed  up  the  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  rivers  and  then  the  "river  of  the  Rock," 
and  struck  northeast  across  the  great  prairies.  We 
read  from  the  reports,  however,  that  the  last  two 
days'  march  was  under  cover  of  the  woods.  This 
leads  us  to  believe  that  the  march  was  mainly  across 
great  prairies. 

The  summer  was  nearing  its  end;  the  lilies  were 
giving  way  to  the  goldenrod  and  to  the  multitude 
of  autumn  daisies  that  bordered  the  trails.  The 
grown  broods  of  quail  whirred  from  the  tall  grass, 
but  they  little  woke  the  instincts  of  the  sportsman, 
for  small  game  was  of  little  account  as  food  for  an 
army;  but  the  deer  and  wild  turkeys  fared  less  well. 
Food,  while  on  the  march,  was  abundant,  but  the 
way  was  long. 

To  a  great  extent  the  valley  of  the  Riviere  du 
Rocher,  now  the  beautiful  Fox  river,  had  become 
No  Man's  Land,  because  of  the  long-standing  wars 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  277 

between  the  Illinois  on  one  side  and  the  Foxes, 
Kickapoos,  and  allies  on  the  other,  who  seemed  bent 
on  driving  that  people  from  northern  Illinois,  a 
region  that  thirty  years  before  was  one  of  the  best 
known  of  the  west.  (See  maps  ante  pp.  23,  28 
and  30.)  It  had  practically  been  lost  sight  of. 
This  was  true  to  such  an  extent  in  1730  that  Per- 
rier,  the  Governor  of  Louisiana,  wrote  of  it  as  "a 
country  up  to  this  time  unknown  to  the  French, 
and  even  to  our  allied  savages,  of  whom  none 
could  serve  us  as  guides."  Louisiana  then  ex 
tended  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river  to 
the  headwaters  of  every  tributary,  and  hence  the 
Riviere  du  Rocher  was  within  Perrier's  jurisdiction. 
Although  its  name  has  been  twice  changed,  the 
Pestekouy  still  flows  through  smiling  prairies  where 
the  herds  that  gave  it  name  so  long  grazed,  but  how 
changed! 


CHAPTER  XVII 

In  July,  1730,  the  Illinois  of  the  village  of  Kas- 
kaskia  had  learned  that  the  Foxes,  a  short  time 
previously,  had  taken  some  prisoners  from  among 
them  and  had  burned  the  son  of  the  great  Illinois 
chief  "near  the  Rock"  which,  as  Ferland  puts  it,  is 
upon  the  Illinois  river.  This  and  other  news  led 
Saint  Ange  to  move.  On  the  loth  day  of  August, 
after  overtaking  the  three  or  four  hundred  savages 
who  had  passed  on  several  days  before,  the  army 
found  itself  about  five  hundred  strong.  The  Kicka- 
poos  and  Mascoutins  and  the  "Illinois  of  the  Rock" 
had  taken  possession  of  the  passage  to  the  northeast 
in  order  to  head  off  the  Foxes,  which  they  succeeded 
in  doing;  and  the  latter  proceeded  to  fortify  them 
selves. 

Near  the  western  border  of  Section  24  of  the  town 
of  Little  Rock,  Kendall  county,  is  what  may  be 
considered  a  freak  of  nature.  It  is  a  pond  of  con 
siderable  depth,  about  an  acre  in  extent,  with  its 
surface  twenty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  prairie, 
and  surrounded  by  trees.  No  stream  enters  it,  nor 
does  one  flow  from  it.  The  pond  is  well  adapted 
for  defense.  It  is  a  fraction  over  two  miles  from 
the  site  of  the  old  Fox  fort  on  Maramech  Hill, 
which  leads  me  to  believe  that  this  was  the  place 
where  the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos  awaited  the 
arrival  of  the  French,  for  it  corresponds  surprisingly 
closely  to  the  distance  at  which  the  warriors  of  these 

279 


28o  LOST   MARAMECH 

tribes  were  located,  to  the  northeast  of  the  Foxes, 
which  was  said  to  be  one  league.*  Defense  was 
easy  because  then,  as  now,  the  pond  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  narrow  belt  of  trees,  and  hence  log- 
built  breastworks  and  enclosures  were  of  easy 
construction.  This  pond  is  a  study  in  physical 
geography  and,  because  of  its  being  somewhat  a 
freak  of  nature,  it  may  have  been  considered  a 
special  providence  by  the  superstitious  savages. 
A  pool  by  the  wayside,  it  quenched  the  thirst;  its 
surrounding  shades  offered  to  fatigued  warriors  a 
resting-place  from  the  trail.  All  blessings  were 
credited  by  the  natives  to  some  of  the  many  Mani- 
tous.  To  what  one  of  them  may  the  finely  wrought 
ornamental  stones  found  on  the  shore  of  the  pond 
have  been  offered  as  sacrifices?  The  lakelet  may 
have  been  considered  as  sacred  and  have  received 
the  worship  of  the  savage^,  as  in  the  ancient  Scandi 
navian  countries  the  wealth  of  the  individual  was 
often  sacrificed  by  casting  it  into  the  waters  of  a 
sacred  spring.  So  may  it  not  have  been  that  our 
natives  considered  this  oasis  in  the  far-reaching 
prairies,  with  its  pool  and  shades,  as  a  special  crea 
tion  for  them?  Game  was  usually  abundant,  and  it 
is  probable  that  fish  could  there  be  caught,  then  as 
now.  Because  of  the  natural  advantages  and  the 
exact  distance  and  direction  from  the  fort  of  the 
Foxes,  I  place  the  watching  Kickapoos  there. 

Saint  Ange,  when  approaching,  was  informed  of 
the  nearness  of  the  enemy,  on  the  I2th  of  August, 
by  one  of  the  scouts  who  also  gave  information  as 

*  A  French  land  league  at  that  time  was  equal  to  2.42  Eng 
lish  miles. 


*F       \. 

ESCAPfJ  SCPT.  9- 


^•f*0  of  HlU- 


Lettering  the  massive  boulder. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  281 

to  the  location  of  the  fort.  This  scout  stated 
that  he  had  counted  there  one  hundred  and  eleven 
cabins.  The  advancing  army  was  then  but  three 
days  distant,  and  on  the  I7th,  at  break  of  day,  the 
enemy  was  sighted.  A  party  of  forty  hunters  was 
forced  to  return  to  the  fort.  Saint  Ange's  army 
cautiously  made  its  way  over  trails  that  led  north 
eastwardly  across  the  prairies,  south  of  the  Illinois 
river,  and  finally  followed  the  open  timber  that 
skirted  the  bluffs  of  the  Riviere  du  Rocher  (Fox 
river).  When  he  reached  the  great  bend,  along 
which  the  bark  and  rush  cabins  of  Maramech  had 
formerly  stood,  he  was  in  position  to  look  to  the 
northwest,  across  the  river  and  across  the  bottom 
lands  where  had  once  been  the  cornfields  of  the 
Miamis.  He  could  look  up  the  slope  (to  the  west  and 
northwest),  that  forms  the  amphitheater  now  studded 
with  a  second  growth  of  hickory  and  oak.  Upon 
this  amphitheater  were  the  one  hundred  and  eleven 
temporary  shelters  of  the  Foxes  spoken  of  by  the 
scout.  Other  French  troops  were  moving  else 
where. 

Early  in  1730  two  Mascoutins  had  come  to  the 
river  St.  Joseph  where  M.  de  Villiers  commanded, 
and  reported  that  the  Foxes  were  fighting  with  the 
Illinois  between  the  Rock  and  the  Ouiatonons 
(Weas,  a  branch  of  the  Miamis,  on  the  Wabash), 
and  that  the  Puants,  Mascoutins,  and  Kickapoos 
had  joined  the  Illinois  and  attacked  the  Foxes,  but 
that  the  Illinois  had  fled.  In  that  attack  six  Puants 
were  wounded  and  one  killed.  There  were  also  two 
Kickapoos  of  the  river  St.  Joseph  killed.  This  news 
had  the  effect  of  awakening  the  French  to  the  fact 


282  LOST   MARAMECH 

that  the  Foxes  were  endeavoring  to  pass  from  their 
village  in  the  Wisconsin  region  to  the  Iroquois,  who 
for  several  years  had  been  attempting  to  induce 
them  to  make  this  move.  The  commandant  at  St. 
Joseph  put  himself  immediately  in  readiness  to 
march  against  the  Foxes,  and  at  once  sent  word  to 
Detroit,  giving  notice  of  what  had  taken  place  and 
of  the  fact  that  he  would  proceed  immediately. 
Some  of  the  Puants  at  Detroit  and  the  Ottawas 
determined  to  take  up  the  hatchet  against  the 
Foxes,  but  were  deterred  from  so  doing  by  the  fact 
that  a  large  number  of  their  warriors  were  absent. 
The  Foxes,  when  opposed  by  the  Kickapoos  and 
others,  said  that  they  were  expecting  a  large  party 
of  Iroquois  to  come  to  their  assistance.  This  was 
no  doubt  said  in  order  to  frighten  the  French,  and 
allies  in  turn,  to  do  which  seemed  to  require  little 
more  than  to  cry  "Iroquois!"  It  was  known,  as 
already  stated,  that  the  English  had  been  working 
to  that  end  and  had  sought  to  influence  the  Foxes 
by  sending  them  presents  by  the  hands  of  the  Iro 
quois.  It  was  on  the  6th  of  August,  1730,  that  M. 
de  Villiers,  commandant  at  the  St.  Joseph  river, 
learned  of  the  move  the  Foxes  were  making,  and  at 
once  gave  the  information  to  M.  de  Noyelles,  com 
mandant  at  the  Miamis.  De  Villiers  made  hasty 
preparations  and  started  on  the  loth  of  August,  at 
the  head  of  three  hundred  French  and  allies,  to 
march  against  the  Foxes.  Upon  his  arrival  he  found 
that  Saint  Ange  had  preceded  him  with  one  hundred 
Frenchmen  and  four  hundred  savages.  He  took  a 
position  on  the  right,  to  the  northwest  of  the  fort 
the  Foxes  had  hastily  constructed,  and  there  located 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  283 

his  little  battery  upon  the  hill  across  the  swamp, 
which  in  itself  protected  it,  where  a  stone  has  been 
placed.  De  Noyelles  soon  joined  them,  when  the 
force  aggregated  about  thirteen  hundred  men,  all 
bent  on  the  annihilation  of  the  Foxes. 

The  details  of  this  affair  are  given  in  the  various 
fragmentary  military  reports.  They  were  digested 
and  entered  in  books  of  record  at  Paris,  many  writ 
ten  by  the  same  hand.  It  seems  evident  that  the 
compiler  omitted  much  and,  because  of  lack  of 
geographical  knowledge  of  the  region,  erred  [in  his 
interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  the  writers.  So 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  Ferland  is  the  only 
historian  who  availed  himself  of  such  of  the  Parisian 
records  as  deal  with  this  great  tragedy.  He  prob 
ably  had  before  him  the  account  found  in  Cor 
respondence  General,  1732,  Vol.  LVIL,  p.  316.  The 
following  is  a  translation  from  the  French  of  his 
account.  (Histoire  du  Canada,  II.,  436.)* 

*  In  the  account  from  which  Ferland  made  this  narration 
there  is  some  confusion ;  and  no  distinction  is  made  between 
"the  Rock,"  which  is  on  the  Illinois  river  and  "the  Rock" 
which  characterizes  the  stream  first  known  to  the  French  as 
the  Pestecouy  and  later  by  them  called  "Riviere  du  Rocher," 
which  discharges  into  the  Illinois  river,  several  miles  above 
the  site  of  old  Fort  St.  Louis.  This  confusion  is  in  part 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  geography  of  the  country  was 
little  known  to  the  commanders  directing  the  movement,  and 
to  the  writers  of  the  military  reports  (see  letter  of  March  25, 
1731,  appendix).  The  Rock  on  which  Fort  St.  Louis  had 
been  was  well  known,  for  it  was  on  two  direct  routes  between 
Louisiana  and  Canada ;  many  of  the  soldiers  of  the  little  army 
had,  no  doubt,  often  passed  up  and  down  the  Illinois  river. 
The  "Riviere  du  Rocher"  was  off  the  main  line  of  canoe- 
travel,  but  was  familiar  to  most  of  the  traders. 


284  LOST   MARAMECH 

"In  the  month  of  October,  1728,  a  party  of  Kicka- 
poos  and  Mascoutins  made  prisoners,  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  of  seventeen  Frenchmen  who  were  descending 
[the  Mississippi]  from  Fort  Beauharnois  [on  Lake 
Pipin]  to  the  Illinois  country.  The  savages  deliber 
ated  at  first  whether  they  would  burn  their  captives 
or  deliver  them  to  the  Foxes,  who  were  demanding 
them.  In  the  meantime  Father  Guignas,  who  was 
among  the  prisoners,  so  gained  their  confidence  that 
he  succeeded  in  detaching  them  from  the  Foxes, 
and  induced  them  to  ask  the  French  for  peace. 

"After  five  months  of  captivity,  he  descended  to 
Fort  Chartres  with  ,a  few  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutin 
chiefs,  at  which  place  Saint  Ange  was  in  command. 
Peace  was  concluded^  according  to  their  wishes  and 
the  prisoners  were  given  their  liberty. 

"Enfeebled  and  disconcerted  by  this  arrangement, 
the  Foxes  contemplated  taking  refuge  among  the 

Ferland,  in  his  account,  does  not  follow  the  original 
manuscript  very  closely,  as  may  be  gathered  by  reference  to 
his  Histoire  du  Canada,  II.,  p.  437.  The  original  reads:  "Les 
Quikapous,  Maskoutins  et  Illinois  du  Rocher  s'estaient 
rendus  maitre  des  parrages  du  cost&  du  nord'est  et  fut 
vraisemblement  ce  qui  contraignet  les  renards  de  faire  un 
fort  au  rocher  a  une  lieue  audessous  d^eux  pour  se  mettrc 
a  convert  de  leurs  insults"  Put  in  plain  English,  the  above 
might  well  read:  "The  Kickapous,  Mascoutins  and  Illinois  of 
the  Rock  had  taken  possession  of  the  region  to  the  northeast 
of  the  Foxes,  and  it  was  probably  that  which  constrained  the 
Foxes  to  build  a  fort  at  (near)  the  Rock,  a  league  below  them 
(the  Mascoutins,  Kickapous  and  Illinois  of  the  Rock)."  Fer- 
land's  mistake  was  in  putting  the  Foxes  a  league  rfrom  the 
Rock  instead  of  a  league  from  the  enemy  that  held  the  places 
to  the  northeast.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  old  Fox  fort  is 
nearly  an  old  French  land  league  from  the  Rock. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  285 

Iroquois,  friends  of  the  English,  by  passing  by  the 
village  of  the  Ouiatonons  [Weas],  a  branch  of  the 
Miamis  living  on  the  Wabash  river,  friendly  to 
them. 

"But  the  Kickapoos  and  the  Mascoutins  pene 
trated  their  schemes  and  gave  information,  at  all  of 
the  posts,  to  the  French  of  Louisiana  and  Canada. 
In  the  meantime  the  Illinois  of  the  village  of  Kao- 
kias,  in  the  month  of  May,  1730,  gave  information 
that  the  Foxes  had  taken'  some  prisoners  near  the 
Rock,  upon  the  river  of  the  Illinois.  This  report 
induced  Saint  Ange  to  take  the  field;  four  hundred 
savages  joined  a  hundred  Frenchmen  whom  he  had 
assembled.  This  little  army  directed  itself  toward 
the  Rock,  at  a  league  from  which  the  Foxes  had 
stopped  and  had  just  finished  building  a  fort.  They 
had  not  been  able  to  continue  their  journey  toward 
the  country  of  the  Iroquois,  for  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutins  and  the  Illinois  of  the  Rock  were  mas 
ters  of  the  places  to  the  northeast. 

"On  the  I7th  of  August  Saint  Ange  arrived  in 
sight  of  the  enemy;  after  having  driven  back  into 
the  fort  a  party  of  hunters,  he  reconnoitered  the 
place  where  they  were  lodged.  It  was  a  little  grove 
enclosed  with  palisades,  situated  on  a  gentle  slope 
which  rose  toward  the  west  and  the  northwest, 
along  a  little  river;  their  retreats  were  made  in  the 
ground  like  the  den  of  the  Fox,  of  which  they  bear 
the  name. 

"At  the  sound  of  the  first  gunshot  fired  by  the 
French,  the  Kickapoos,  Mascoutins,  and  the  Illi 
nois,  who,  for  a  month,  had  been  expecting  aid,  ran 
up  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  men. 


286  LOST   MARAMECH 

"Thus  reenforced,  Saint  Ange  divided  his  forces 
in  such  a  way  [as  to  hem  in  the  Foxes,  who  had 
undertaken  several  ineffectual  sorties.  It  was 
necessary  to  entrench,  and  each  one  worked  to 
fortify  himself  in  the  post  that  had  been  assigned 
to  him.  On  the  igth  the  enemy  demanded  to  par 
ley;  they  offered  to  deliver  the  slaves  that  they  had 
before"  taken  on  the  Illinois  river,  and  did  deliver 
some;  but  as  they  sought  only  to  procrastinate, 
Saint  Ange  renewed  the  attack  on  the  morrow. 
During  the  days  following  he  was  joined  by  fifty 
or  sixty  Frenchmen  and  five  hundred  savages,  Pot- 
tawatomies  and  Sacs,  which  M.  de  Villiers,  com 
mandant  of  the  river  Saint  Joseph,  had  brought. 

"M.  de  Noyelles  arrived  from  the  other  direc 
tion,  with  two  hundred  Miamis  and  ten  Frenchmen. 
The  Foxes  defended  themselves  bravely  and  ably. 
By  means  of  presents  they  sought  to  gain  some  of 
their  ancient  allies;  the  Sacs  treated  underhanded 
with  them,  furnished  them  some  ammunition  and 
took  measures  to  favor  their  escape.  The  other 
savages  perceived  the  movements  of  the  Sacs,  and 
were  on  the  point  of  attacking  them  when  Saint 
Ange  advanced,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  French 
men,  between  the  two  parties,  to  establish  order. 
The  siege  lasted  longer  than  they  had  foreseen; 
famine  reigned,  not  only  with  the  Foxes,  but  also 
with  the  French  and  their  allies.  Reduced  to  eat 
their  quivers,  a  part  of  the  allies  became  discour 
aged;  two  hundred  Illinois  deserted  on  the  7th  of 
September.  Fortunately,  this  bad  example  was 
not  followed  by  others.  The  Foxes  were  pressed 
more  and  more;  Saint  Ange  had  a  fort  constructed 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  287 

which  prevented  them  from  going  to  the  river  for 
water.  All  expressed  themselves  that  the  time  of 
surrender  was  near.  But  the  8th  of  September  a 
violent  storm,  accompanied  with  thunder  and  tor 
rents  of  rain,  interrupted  the  efforts  of  the  French. 
This  day  was  followed  by  a  rainy  night,  dark  and 
cold;  the  Foxes  profited  by  it  and  attempted  to 
escape  from  their  fort. 

"The  cries  of  the  children  betrayed  them,  and  it 
was  believed  that  they  were  escaping.  In  the  dark 
ness  that  reigned  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish 
friends  from  the  enemy,  and  the  entire  night  was 
passed  in  this  uncertainty.  Nevertheless,  the 
French  and  their  allies  remained  under  arms,  and 
at  daylight  of  the  gth  the  freshest  and  most  vigorous 
started  in  pursuit  of  the  Foxes,  who  could  not 
advance  rapidly  because  of  their  embarrassments. 

"The  women,  the  children,  and  the  old  men 
marched  at  the  head;  the  warriors  were  placed  last 
to  protect  the  retreat.  In  an  instant  their  ranks 
were  broken,  and  they  fled  pell-mell;  more  than 
three  hundred  of  their  warriors  were  killed  or  taken 
prisoners;  a  considerable  number  of  women  and 
children  perished  in  the  fight,  pursued  by  the  Illi 
nois  of  the  Rock,  the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos. 
Fifty  or  sixty  warriors  alone  escaped;  but  under 
different  pretexts  the  Ouitanons  and  the  Sacs  had 
succeeded  in  helping  many  of  the  women  and  chil 
dren  to  also  escape  the  massacre  of  their  nation. 

"The  Foxes  had  lost  many  people;  seventy  cabins 
had  been  destroyed;  the  nation,  it  was  said,  no 
longer  possessed  more  than  thirty  cabins  (families); 
only  a  few  women  and  a  small  number  of  children 


288  LOST   MARAMECH 

remained.  Some  years  before  the  Foxes  prided 
themselves  on  the  number  of  children  they  pos 
sessed  who  promised  a  brilliant  future."* 

Regarding  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes,  M.  de  Beau- 
harnois  wrote  to  M.  de  Maurepas  on  the  i8th  of 
May,  1731:  "Behold  a  nation  humbled  to  the  extent 
that  it  will  no  longer  trouble  the  earth." 

THE  SIEGE 

Turn  loose  the  wings  of  the  imagination;  let  it  fly 
back  one  hundred  and  seventy  years  while  we  place 
ourselves  upon  the  summit,  at  the  northeast  end  of 
what  is  now  known  as  Maramech  Hill.  There  must 
have  stood  during  the  beautiful  Indian  summer  days 
of  1730  a  watchful  warrior.  With  hand  shading  his 
eyes,  he  peers  far  over  the  "Little  River"  and  over 
the  valley  toward  the  rising  sun.  He  is  higher  than 
the  reddening  maple  trees  in  the  valley.  With  him, 
on  this  promontory,  are  other  braves;  they  are  the 
"watchmen  of  the  tower."  They  watch  not  so  much 
for  the  immediate  approach  of  the  expected  enemies 
as  for  expected  signal  fires  on  the  prairies,  to  the 
northeast — watch  for  prairie  fires  that,  by  prearrange- 
ment,  are  to  be  lit  by  those  chosen  to  do  double 
duty,  not  only  to  act  as  pickets  and  give  warning, 
but  to  hunt  supplies  of  food. 

How  strange  it  seems  to  us  now,  sitting  in  com 
fort  amid  plenty,  to  read  that  hunger  at  any  time 
was  felt  here!  In  and  along  the  streams  where  the 
sportsman  now  finds  game  in  abundance,  and  tells 
big  fish  stories,  was  little  food  supply  found  in  those 

*For  the  original  documents  and  translation  thereof  see 
Appendix. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  289 

autumn  days,  for  the  hunters  dared  not  wander  far. 
Three  hundred  warriors,  with  their  women  and  chil 
dren,  probably  more  than  a  thousand  in  number,  we 
seem  to  see  here  concentrated,  who,  unwilling  to 
separate  because  of  the  watchful  Mascoutins  and 
Kickapoos  and  of  the  nearness  of  the  French  and 
allies,  find  subsistence  hard  to  procure.  From  the 
hills  to  the  north  and  over  the  prairies  game  has 
been  frightened  into  receding  farther  than  the  hunt 
ers  dare  go,  for  no  one  knows  when  the  blow  may 
fall;  they  know  not  when  they  will  be  startled  by 
the  war-cry  of  the  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos,  and  Illi 
nois,  joined  by  the  expected  reinforcements  from 
whose  well-earned  rage  they  fled.  Their  stock  of 
dried  meat,  fish,  parched  corn  and  maple  sugar  is 
exhausted. 

The  women  and  children  are  as  hungry  as  the 
dogs  which  dispute  with  them  every  morsel,  and 
which,  in  turn,  are  soon  to  be  eaten.  Upon  the 
crest  of  the  hill,  along  the  eastern  side,  are  other 
watchmen;  upon  the  bluffs  and  farther  on,  as  far  as 
the  prairies  that  stretch  away  to  the  west,  are  others 
still.  The  lesser  creek,  from  which  they  get 
their  water  by  a  covered  way  since  having  been 
driven  into  the  stockade  upon  the  hill,  comes  from 
the  northwest  to  within  a  mile  and  then  turns  to  the 
east,  then  sharply  to  the  north  and  touches  the  hill. 
It  then  passes  to  the  east  along  the  hillside.  After 
forming  a  channel  like  a  letter  S,  it  mingles  its 
waters  with  those  of  the  larger  creek — the  "Little 
River"  of  the  French  accounts.  Eyes  are  fixed 
across  the  lesser  creek,  to  the  west  and  to  the  south; 
they  watch  for  pillars  of  smoke  by  day  and  for  the 


2QO  LOST   MARAMECH 

light  of  signal  fires  by  night.  On  this  great  prairie, 
stretching  across  the  river  and  also  to  the  west,  the 
hunters  are  particularly  watchful;  and  more  so 
toward  the  southwest,  for  Saint  Ange  is  known  to 
be  on  the  march  against  them,  from  Fort  Chartres, 
on  the  Mississippi,  with  his  Illinois  allies.* 

The  prairie  fires  are  expected  to  warn  of  his 
approach.  As  the  heliograph  serves  in  modern  war 
fare,  so  do  signal  fires  with  our  native  races.  The 
prisoners  taken,  somewhere  on  or  near  the  Illinois 
river  and  held  by  the  Foxes,  cast  longing  eyes  in 
the  direction  of  the  expected  army  that  is  coming 
from  so  near  the  town  of  Kaskaskia,  their  last  home. 
Theirs  with  other  of  the  Illinois  tribes  were  driven 
from  this  section,  their  old  home,  by  the  Foxes, 
who  now  hold  it.  The  captives  share  the  hunger  of 
their  captors. 

Far  down  the  lovely  Riviere  du  Rocher  fisher 
men  are  also  performing  the  double  task  of  supply 
ing  food,  as  best  they  can,  and  doing  picket  duty. 
We  know  how  Saint  Ange  is  making  his  approach. 
The  last  two  days  his  army  has  moved  under  cover 

*  A  manuscript  map  of  1818,  in  the  Congressional  Library  at 
Washington,  shows  a  road  running  north  from  Kaskaskia  to 
Edwardsville,  thence  to  Springfield,  thence  to  Peoria  Lake,  and 
thence  to  the  Illinois  River,  crossing  it  just  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Des  Plaines ;  thence  it  follows  the  west  shore  of  the  river 
Des  Plaines,  crossing  it  at  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  River 
side.  The  road  crosses  the  Vermilion  about  twelve  miles  from 
Starved  Rock. 

As  was  usually  true,  the  road  was  probably  an  old  trail,  and 
it  seems  likely  that  Saint  Ange  took  that  course.  He  followed 
the  trail  that  led  from  Ottawa  to  Chicagou,  but  turned  at  the 
river  timber  and  passed  up  to  the  fort  of  the  Foxes. 


Frame  of  Fox  wigwam,  Tama  Reservation. 


Fox  Wigwam,  Tama  Reservation. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  291 

of  the  woods,  along  the  bluffs  that  border  the 
Riviere  du  Rocher  on  the  east. 

The  Foxes  have  made  enemies  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  Miami  tribes,  and  from  the  east  they  fear 
the  approach  of  these  people  of  the  St.  Joseph 
region.  Far  to  the  southeast,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Wabash  river,  are  the  Ouitanons  (Weas),  the  only 
Miamis  the  Foxes  can  call  brothers.  To  these 
their  course  has  been  directed;  the  village  that  they 
hope  may  serve  them  as  an  asylum,  if  only  for  a 
time,  is  not  far  from  a  direct  route  to  the  Iroquois 
nation  of  New  York,  where  they  hope  that  their 
troubles  may  cease. 

The  Foxes  have  made  themselves  so  odious  to 
their  neighbors  as  to  be  compelled  to  leave  the 
region  of  their  old  home  on  the  Wisconsin  and  the 
Fox  river  that  heads  near  by.  How  they  came  this 
far  we  are  not  told,  but  we  know  that  the  Kishwau- 
kee  trail  is  the  shortest  route.  Horses  were  brought 
a  part  of  the  way  from  New  Spain  by  the  remnants 
of  La  Salle's  ill-fated  party,  but  we  may  safely  say 
that  the  pursued  had  none  and,  laden  with  their  all, 
they  dragged  themselves  along  the  deeply  worn 
trail  that  climbs  the  northeastern  end  of  this  fatal 
hill.  Having  reached  this  place,  they  sought  rest 
on  the  slope  "rising  toward  the  west  and  north 
west,"  along  the  "Little  River."  They  halted  and 
constructed  defenses.  They  levelled  places  and 
erected  one  hundred  and  eleven  rush-mat  shelters. 

The  hill  seeming  to  them  to  be  a  strategic  point? 
they  built  this  stockade.  The  women  shared  the 
labor;  they  chopped  and  they  dug.  This  ditch  and 
palisade  form  a  half-circle  that  is  completed  by  the 


292  LOST   MARAMECH 

very  steep  bluff  at  the  south  end  of  the  hill  which, 
with  the  log-protected  rifle-pits,  is  a  defense  in 
itself.  Upon  the  embankment  a  palisade  of  poles, 
cut  from  the  crest  of  the  hill,  is  planted.  Into  this 
enclosure  a  large  part  of  the  three  hundred  warriors 
and  many  times  more  women  and  children  are 
crowded.  The  beautiful  landscape  to  the  south  has 
no  charms  for  them;  landscapes,  ever  so  beautiful, 
neither  quiet  fears  nor  satisfy  hunger. 

The  Kickapoos  are  the  first  of  the  enemy  to 
approach,  but  for  a  time  they  keep  somewhat 
aloof,  for  their  number  is  not  great.  Before  the 
approach  of  the  others,  the  Foxes  little  feared 
them.  Watchfulness  however,  has  become  more 
necessary  because  of  their  nearness.  The  fatal  hour 
is  approaching.  Far  to  the  south  the  night  sky  is 
faintly  lighted.  Is  it  the  expected  signal  or  an  acci 
dental  prairie  fire  run  wild  from  some  hunter's 
camp?  The  anxiety,  already  great,  becomes 
intense.  Breathless  hunters  report  the  approach  of 
the  enemy.  The  French  and  their  allies,  in  turn, 
are  watchful  and  cautious,  so  amidst  uncertainties 
they  are. 

Saint  Ange,  in  starting,  had  directed  his  little 
army  toward  the  Rock,  but  whether  the  erst 
while  Fort  St.  Louis,  as  guessed  by  some,  or  the 
Rock  that  gave  this,  the  Riviere  du  Rocher,  its 
second  name,  he  was  not  informed;  the  course  was 
uncertain,  and  he  groped  his  way.  He  now  has 
reason  to  believe  that  he  is  nearing  his  prey;  he 
encounters  forty  of  the  Fox  hunters.  Finding 
them,  and  fearing  to  be  led  into  ambush,  he  moves 
with  greater  caution  still,  and  follows  their  retreat 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  293 

with  care.  Now  all  the  pickets  have  been  driven 
in,  and  all  the  women,  children,  and  old  men 
brought  from  the  slope  along  the  "Little  River"  to 
the  stockade  where  the  trees  afford  their  only  shel 
ter  from  the  sun  and  storm.  The  stockade  is  crowded 
and  food  scarce,  but  as  a  covered  passageway  leads 
to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  where  the  smaller  stream 
bathes  it,  water  is  abundant.  The  Fox  braves  still 
lie  in  shallow  trenches  they  have  dug  along  the  crest 
of  the  hill  to  command  the  slopes. 

The  French  and  their  allies  quickly  take  positions 
upon  the  bluffs  surrounding  this  island-like  hill.  To 
the  north,  a  good  rifle-shot  away,  a  part  of  the  army 
is  posted;  across  this  valley,  between  this  and  the 
hill  of  the  besieged,  no  successful  sortie  can  be 
made — a  few  of  the  Fox  riflemen  can  easily  com 
mand  the  valley  and  steep  hillsides. 


De  VIl'.eL-'s  'Cavalier"  (little  fort),  for  protecting  his  advance  across 
the  swamp  and  up  Maramech  Hill. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Standing  on  this  isolated  hill,  fortified,  and  with 
a  swamp  and  the  creeks  surrounding  it,  it  seems 
invulnerable,  unless  attacked  by  a  large  force.  A 
valley,  densely  grown  with  trees,  bounds  its  steep 
sides.  An  eighth  of  a  mile  from  the  crest,  and 
parallel  with  it,  across  the  narrow  valley,  are  bluffs 
that  rise  gradually  and  recede  to  the  open  prairie  a 
little  to  the  north.  They  are  steep  only  in  places, 
and  there  a  body  of  French  soldiers  have  taken 
position  with  a  light  field-piece.  The  hill  occupied 
by  the  Foxes  is  long  and  narrow  at  its  summit — a 
mere  ridge  the  greater  part  of  its  length.  From 
the  works  at  the  south  end  it  extends  northward  a 
distance,  and  then  turns  to  the  northeast,  finally 
increasing  in  height.  The  abrupt  sides  are  easily 
defended,  but  not  so  with  the  side  that  "rises  with 
a  gentle  slope  to  the  west  and  northwest  from  the 
Little  River."  To  defend  this  slope  is  imperative, 
for  once  driven  to  the  summit,  the  three  hundred 
warriors  must  necessarily  extend  the  whole  length 
of  the  hill,  in  a  single  line,  a  fourth  of  a  mile  in 
length,  that  can  be  easily  broken  by  the  attacks  from 
front  and  rear.  Between  two  fires  such  a  line,  held 
by  much  less  than  three  hundred  men,  is  at  the 
mercy  of  the  attacking  army. 

Strategy  demands  that  the  foot  of  the  hill,  where 
it  rises  with  a  gentle  slope  westwardly  and  north 
westwardly,  be  held.  Across  the  heavily  timbered 

295 


2g6  LOST   MARAMECH 

valley,  east  of  the  "Little  River,"  a  mere  skirmish 
line  can  easily  pass,  skulking  Indian-like  from  tree 
to  tree,  or  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  across  the 
little  knee-deep  river;  they  are  protected  at  the  foot 
of  the  long  slope  by  the  banks  of  the  stream  as 
safely  as  by  the  best  breastworks. 

The  banks  of  the  stream  once  attained,  the  attack 
ing  army  has  gained  vantage  ground,  for  their  rifle 
shots  can  reach  the  very  crest  of  the  hill;  and 
besides,  their  advance,  when  they  wish  to  go  farther, 
is  through  the  woods  and  they  can  creep  from  tree 
to  tree  while  the  abundant  force  in  the  rear  can  keep 
the  enemy  well  under  cover. 

A  trifling  distance  to  the  north  of  the  little  fort, 
with  De  Villiers'  single  field-piece,  protected  by 
great  logs  that  bed  themselves  in  the  soil,  is  a 
spring  in  the  hillside  which  furnishes  water  for  the 
infantry  and  the  men  who  man  the  single  piece  of 
artillery.  The  point  of  the  hill  at  the  south  (across 
the  smaller  creek),  that  reaches  toward  us  to  within 
a  rifle-shot  of  this  death  trap,  is  selected  by  Saint 
Ange  as  a  strategic  position.  He  hopes  to  prevent 
the  besieged  from  reaching  the  water,  but  is 
baffled,  for  they  succeeded  by  means  of  their  cov 
ered  way  down  to  the  little  creek.  The  ditch  that 
leads  down  to  the  water  is  deep  and  well  protected; 
time  alone  can  obliterate  it;  it  is  well  protected  by 
warriors  in  the  rifle-pits. 

Hunger  sees  no  beauty  in  the  great  river  that,  so 
near,  flows  gently  from  the  direction  of  the  rising 
September  sun  for  a  little  distance,  turns  south 
wardly  and  passes  the  Rock,  nearly  a  league 
away.  Menacing  the  overcrowded  palisade,  be- 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  297 

tween  this  hill  and  the  "Little  River"  is  another 
part  of  the  besieging  army.  Thus  surrounded, 
death  is  certain  to  the  besieged,  for  successful  resist 
ance  seems  impossible.  To  surrender  is  to  offer 
themselves  to  torture  at  the  stake.  The  conditions 
seem  desperate,  for  the  pangs  of  hunger  touch  alike 
the  old  and  young.  The  dogs  are  eaten  and  chil 
dren  gnaw  the  bones.  The  aged  brood  in  silence. 
Warriors  lie  along  the  ridge,  in  irregular  shallow 
trenches,  and  guard  the  steep  that  drops  to  the 
northward,  while  others,  along  the  same  ridge,  are 
prepared  to  resist  any  approach  of  warriors  up  the 
gentle  slope  from  the  sheltering  banks  of  the 
"Little  River,"  where  hides  Saint  Ange's  main  body 
of  troops. 

The  Foxes  are  not  alone  hungered,  for  the  be 
siegers  fare  little  better.  Although  they  have  the 
fertile  prairies  around  them  and  water  in  abundance, 
still  they  hunger,  for  so  large  a  body  of  hunters  has 
frightened  the  deer  arid  buffalo  far  away.  To  such 
an  extent  does  famine  press  that  some  of  the  allies 
are  forced  to  eat  their  quivers,  and  some  desert  in 
order  to  obtain  food.  Fiercely  they  resolved  to  do 
their  share  in  annihilating  the  Foxes,  but  hunger 
now  cows  them.  The  fields  of  corn  that  erstwhile 
bordered  the  river  are  no  more  For  many  years 
they  have  not  been  cultivated,  for  this  region  has 
been  No  Man's  Land.  The  incursions  of  the  north 
ern  tribes,  in  their  struggles  to  rob  the  Illinois  of 
the  garden  spot  of  the  west,  and  the  efforts  of  the 
Illinois  to  drive  intruders  away,  made  it  unsafe 
for  all. 

Only  occasional  shots   need  be   fired,   and  those 


298  LOST   MARAMECH 

merely  to  remind  the  Foxes  of  the  continued  pres 
ence  of  their  vengeful  enemies;  the  French  and 
their  allies  have  only  to  play  a  waiting  game.  In 
the  darkness  of  the  night  De  Villiers'  forces  charge 
up  the  steep  hill  at  the  north  and  dig  deeper  the 
trenches  made  by  the  Foxes  to  protect  their  pros 
trate  forms.  The  little  piece  of  artillery  across  the 
valley  will  serve  its  purpose  well,  if  need  there  be. 
Just  behind  the  newly  possessed  trenches  the 
Frenchmen  place  two  more.  The  morning  dawns 
and  finds  lines  of  shallow  trenches  within  easy  mus 
ket  shot  of  the  north  side  of  the  stockade.  The 
tables  are  now  turned.  The  besieged  must  become 
the  attacking  party  or  surrender  to  be  massacred. 
To  attack  Saint  Ange  in  the  open  valley  to  the  east 
will  be  fatal.  They  do  not  fear  approach  from  the 
south,  for  a  few  brave  warriors,  in  their  log-pro 
tected  pits,  with  flying  arrows  can  baffle  all  who 
come.  Unpromising  though  sorties  are,  naught 
else  can  offer  any  hope  of  escaping  the  stake.  A 
rush  is  made  across  the  plain  toward  the  trenches  to 
drive  the  Frenchmen  from  the  ridge.  It  fails.  As 
the  days  pass  other  attempts  are  made  with  no  suc 
cess.  Sullenly  the  Foxes  keep  to  their  stockaded 
fort.  Few  shots  are  exchanged,  but  long  muskets 
are  ready  to  be  thrust  out  between  the  palisades 
should  the  Frenchmen  and  allies  leave  their  trenches 
for  attack.  Along  the  River  of  the  Rock,  at  the  old 
village  site,  the  reserves  of  the  attacking  army  are 
placed,  and  from  there  reliefs  are  sent  to  hold 
strategic  points. 

Many  of  the  allies  are  only  half-hearted.      The 
Foxes  for  many  years  have  been  their  neighbors, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  299 

and  their  main  grievance  is  that  the  Foxes  have 
plundered  the  French  who  came  to  trade,  and  thus 
interfered  with  their  own  commerce.  Even  to  this 
time  the  Foxes  are  not  fully  supplied  with  guns,  and 
yet  they  have  wrought  military  wonders.  The  sym 
pathies  of  the  Sacs  and  the  Miamis  are  aroused  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  seek  to  aid  many  to 
escape,  particularly  the  women  and  children. 
These  attempts  to  aid  the  besieged  so  anger  some 
of  the  allies  that  a  breaking  up  of  the  expedition 
seems  likely  to  take  place.  Saint  Ange  marches  a 
hundred  Frenchmen  between  the  angered  parties 
and  puts  an  immediate  stop  to  the  intrigue  of  the 
Sacs  and  Weas  by  force  of  arms,  and  restores  order. 
Driven  to  despair,  the  Foxes  demand  a  parley,  but 
all  terms  they  ask  are  refused. 

A  favorable  opportunity  for  the  besieged  to 
attempt  to  escape  at  last  presents  itself.  It  is  the 
8th  of  September,  1730.  The  beautiful  Indian  sum 
mer  day  ends  in  a  heavy  storm,  and  a  cold  night 
follows.  The  breath  of  the  great  lake,  little  more 
than  fifty  miles  away,  suddenly  comes,  reducing  the 
warmth  of  mild  autumn  to  the  chill  of  blustering 
March.  In  the  darkness  the  warriors  quietly  emerge 
from  the  stockade;  with  caution  they  creep  down 
the  abrupt  slope  at  the  southeastern  termination  of 
the  palisades;  the  women  and  enfeebled  grope  their 
way,  and  children,  weak  from  hunger,  cling  to 
mothers'  scanty  garments  and  shake  with  fear. 
Alas,  the  wail  of  infants  tell  of  the  escape!  With 
what  anxiety  the  mothers  attempt  to  quiet  them! 
On  the  success  of  that  attempt  escape  from  tortures, 
which  mean  a  thousand  death-pangs,  depends.  A 


300  LOST   MARAMECH 

Sac  woman,  perhaps  herself  with  babe  at  breast, 
also  betrays  the  persecuted  people.  With  warriors 
at  front,  resolved  to  die  for  their  loved  ones,  they 
find  their  way  across  the  "Little  River,"  between 
the  French  who  are  camped  along  the  larger  stream 
and  those  who  occupy  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
hill.  Unwatchful,  the  French  and  allies  have 
sought  shelter  from  the  storm.  As  the  fleeing  ones 
pass  beyond  the  besiegers'  lines,  the  larger  portion 
of  the  warriors  fall  behind  to  guard  the  rear. 
Enough  remain  in  front  to  form  an  advance  guard. 
The  half-friendly  allies  of  the  French  know  of  the 
escape,  and  some  of  them  render  assistance.  The 
Foxes  are  not  pursued,  for,  in  the  darkness,  the  war 
riors  cannot  distinguish  friend  from  foe;  they  can 
only  await  the  dawn.  To  turn  to  the  southeast  and 
cross  the  river  is  impossible,  and  yet  that  is  the 
direction  in  which  all  the  hope  of  the  Foxes  lie. 
Were  the  circumstances  different,  to  take  any  well- 
known  trail  would  be  wise;  but  they  have  no  choice, 
and  strike  toward  the  east  they  must.  For  a  mile 
they  pass  through  the  heavy  timber  extending  across 
the  valley  and,  for  some  distance,  beyond  the 
bkiff.  In  these  woods,  upon  the  eastern  hill, 
they  meet  their  fate;  to  move  out  on  the  prairie  is 
to  be  surrounded  at  approach  of  day  and  be  over 
whelmed. 

Knowing  that  their  departure  has  been  discovered, 
to  halt  upon  this  hill  in  the  heavy  timber  is  pru 
dent.  Here  they  make  their  last  stand.  The  Mas- 
coutins  and  Kickapoos  take  revenge  and  here  the 
Illinois  of  the  Rock,  the  very  people  who  for  years 
have  been  warred  against  by  the  Foxes  to  such  an 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  301 

extent  as  to  be  driven  from  their  homes,  fully  glut 
their  vengeance.  The  prisoners,  spared  for  a  time 
only,  are  brought  back  to  the  camps  along  the 
"Little  River,"  and  to  the  larger  stream,  the 
Riviere  du  Rocher,  where  every  savage  art  is  prac 
ticed  upon  them,  and  they  perish. 

Words  cannot  tell  the  tale  of  horror!  What  brush 
can  depict  the  agonizing  scene?  Women,  children, 
and  old  men  fall  victims  to  the  hatchet,  for  they  are 
not  worthy  to  die  as  warriors  die.  The  warriors 
that  survive  the  struggle  are  greater  game.  They 
are  tied  to  trees,  and  there  sing  their  death-songs, 
while  the  flames  of  slow  fires  creep  around  their 
lower  limbs.  No  cry  of  anguish  escapes  them. 
Wrists  tied  together,  their  arms  around  the  tree  or 
stake,  they  have  some  freedom  to  walk,  but  only  on 
beds  of  burning  coals.  In  derision  they  are  prom 
ised  warmth,  and  necklaces  of  red  hot  hatchets  are 
placed  upon  their  naked  shoulders.  Scalps  are  torn 
from  their  heads  while  yet  they  live,  but  with  stolid 
mien  they  sing  to  the  last  breath.  The  Frenchmen 
raise  no  hand  in  pity, — such  is  the  end! 

The  frosts  of  autumn  have  dyed  to  crimson  the 
leaves  of  the  maples,  and  the  blood  of  the  natives 
has  stained  the  sod.  When  comes,  anew  the  spring 
the  violets  shall  have  a  brighter  hue  and  the  blue 
bells  be  richer  imitations  of  the  eyes  of  beauty, 
springing,  as  they  shall,  from  soil  enriched  by  tears 
of  agony,  by  blood  of  innocent  children,  and  still 
more  by  the  flesh  and  bones  of  the  brave.  How 
sad  the  scene!  The  maples  sigh  in  the  soft  winds 
of  September,  but  no  human  sigh  of  sympathy  for 
the  tortured  is  heard.  No  friend  is  left  to  weave  a 


302  LOST   MARAMECH 

wreath  of  autumn  flowers  for  the  loved,  nor  laurels 
for  the  slaughtered  braves. 

The  prophecy  that  after  this  defeat  the  Foxes 
would  "no  more  trouble  the  earth"  failed  to  come 
true,  although  the  troubles  remained  less  than  they 
were  before.  The  route  from  Green  Bay  to  the 
west,  up  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin  and  down  the 
Wisconsin  river,  was  open  for  a  time,  and  Fort 
Beauharnois,  on  Lake  Pepin,  was  reestablished. 
Scattered  bands  of  Foxes  still  remained.  They  were 
attacked  by  the  Sioux,  and  also  by  the  Illinois,  on 
the  borders  of  "Lake  Maramech, "  says  Ferland. 
(II.,  439.)  Where  this  lake  is  I  am  unable  to  learn. 
Possibly  it  is  one  of  those  at  the  headwaters  of  the 
Fox  river  of  Illinois,  not  far  from  the  ancient 
"Great  Village  of  Maramech."  Several  other  tribes, 
from  time  to  time,  directed  their  efforts  toward  the 
more  complete  destruction  of  the  Foxes.  One  of 
the  last  was  made  by  Iroquois  of  the  Lake  of  Two 
Mountains,  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  joined  to 
some  Hurons  of  Detroit  who  asked  their  assistance. 
Fifty  Christian  Iroquois  arrived  at  Detroit,  from 
which  place  they  departed  on  the  i/th  of  October, 
1732,  numbering  seventy-four  well-armed  warriors. 
They  crossed  the  peninsula  of  Michigan  and  built  a 
fort  at  Chicago,  where  they  left  their  sick.  They 
were  then  conducted  by  two  Mascoutins  as  far  as  the 
banks  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  at  which  place  some 
of  the  Foxes  had  collected.  Mounting  a  high  hill, 
they  were  surprised  to  see  four  or  five  large  cabins 
in  the  valley.  The  Foxes  came  out  to  meet  them. 
After  they  had  discharged  their  guns,  the  Iroquois 
and  Hurons  rushed  upon  the  Foxes,  hatchet  in 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  303 

hand,  and  forced  them  to  take  flight.  They  then 
pushed  into  the  village,  where  they  massacred  a 
large  number  of  men,  women,  and  children.  The 
attack  was  so  fierce  that  the  Foxes  had  three  hun 
dred  killed  and  taken.  The  few  who  escaped  dis 
persed  among  the  other  nations.  Thirty  or  forty 
men,  and  as  many  women,  surrendered  to  De  Vil- 
liers,  who  then  commanded  at  Green  Bay.  The 
latter  sent  an  envoy  to  Quebec,  accompanied  by  two 
chiefs  of  these  people,  as  hostages.  One  named 
Kiala,  who  had  been  the  principal  author  of  previous 
treasonable  acts,  was  sent  to  Martinique.  His  wife 
remained  some  time  at  Lorette,  but  finally  joined 
her  husband. 

Still  the  Foxes  could  not  remain  quiet.  They 
sought  to  ally  themselves  with  a  band  of  Sacs  who 
had  built  a  fort  at  Green  Bay.  What  then  followed 
is  well  told  by  Ferland.  (II.,  40.) 

"De  Villiers  arrived  at  Green  Bay  on  the  6th  day 
of  September.  At  a  league  from  the  place  he  was 
met  by  Repentigny,  commandant  at  Mackinaw, 
with  sixty  Frenchmen  and  two  hundred  savages. 
De  Villiers  had  ordered  Repentigny  to  hold  himself 
in  readiness  to  march  immediately  upon  hearing  a 
signal  that  was  .  to  consist  of  three  gun-shots. 
Arriving  at  the  French  fort,  De  Villiers  sent  to  find 
the  Sac  chiefs,  to  whom  he  explained  that  the  Gov 
ernor-General  had  promised  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
Foxes  if  they  would  remove  to  Montreal.  He 
declared  that  if  they  did  not  send  the  Foxes  who 
were  among  them  within  a  given  time  he  would 
come  for  them.  The  time  expired  and  no  Foxes 
had  appeared.  De  Villiers,  whom  Repentigny  had 


304  LOST   MARAMECH 

joined,  proceeded  at  once  to  the  fort  of  the  Sacs 
with  some  Frenchmen  to  demand  the  delivery  of 
the  Foxes.  Moved  by  his  courage,  and  without 
consulting  the  rules  of  prudence,  for  he  only  had 
nine  Frenchmen  with  him,  he  undertook  to  tear 
down  the  barriers  of  the  fort  of  the  Sacs.  Some 
chiefs  commanded  him  to  retire,  because  their 
young  men  could  not  be  controlled,  and  said  that  if 
he  continued  he  would  surely  die;  but  nothing 
deterred  him.  In  a  moment  a  gun-shot,  fired  by  a 
Sac,  laid  low  the  son  of  De  Villiers,  by  the  side  of 
his  father.  The  father  fired  upon  the  first  Sac  that 
presented  himself.  A  general  discharge  of  mus 
ketry  was  returned  by  the  Sacs;  De  Villiers  fell  dead, 
and  several  Frenchmen  were  wounded.  Repentigny 
was  killed;  also  were  seven  other  Frenchmen  of  his 
command.  A  few  days  later,  another  son  of  De  Vil 
liers  assembled  many  from  the  friendly  tribes  and 
marched  against  the  Sacs,  who  had  abandoned  their 
fort,  crossing  the  Mississippi  river,  whither  they  had 
fled  with  the  few  Foxes  who  remained." 

The  account  of  this  affair  is  also  found  in  Margry 
(Affluents  of  the  Mississippi  River,  p.  470).  The 
Sacs  became  much  disgusted  with  the  Foxes  and 
required  them  to  build  a  fort  of  their  own,  but 
allowed  it  to  be  near  theirs. 

In  1734  the  Foxes  were  reduced  to  a  hundred 
warriors.  (TV.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  IX.,  1055.)  Not 
withstanding  this,  their  numbers  were  sufficient  to 
seriously  trouble  the  French,  and  Beauharnois,  in 
1741,  wrote:  "The  court  has  written,  since  several 
years,  that  it  has  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  the 
destruction  of  that  Indian  nation  which  cannot  be 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  305 

prevailed  upon  by  presents  and  the  good  treatment 
of  the  French  to  live  in  peace,  notwithstanding  all 
of  its  promises.  Besides,  it  is  notorious  that  the 
Foxes  have  a  secret  understanding  with  the  Iroquois 
to  secure  a  retreat  among  the  latter  in  case  they  be 
obliged  to  abandon  their  village." 

As  before,  the  Foxes  were  not  the  only  ones  to  irri 
tate  the  French,  for  we  find  a  report  that  various  mem 
bers  of  the  Miami  tribe  and,  it  is  proper  to  believe, 
the  Foxes  and  Sacs  and  still  others,  had  entered  into 
a  conspiracy  to  make  a  general  attack  on  the  French. 

Thrice  in  the  history  of  the  west  was  the  Hill  of 
Maramech  sought  as  a  place  of  refuge.  To  such  an 
extent  was  it  a  strategic  point  that  the  possible 
necessity  of  works  of  defense,  which  need  the  hill 
supplied,  early  led  the  Miamis  to  make  their  village 
near-by.  The  abundance  of  fish  in  the  river  and  of 
game,  before  the  warring  tribes  had  driven  the  deer 
and  buffalo  from  the  neighboring  prairies,  made 
life  easy  to  those  men  of  the  wilderness. 

Although  for  years  petted  and  cajoled  by  the 
French,  the  natives,  influenced  by  the  English, 
gradually  turned  against  their  erstwhile  friends. 
Louisiana  and  Canada  joined  where  the  watershed 
between  the  valleys  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the 
Mississippi  drew  its  sinuous  length  over  the  prairies. 

The  traders  of  the  Atlantic  colonies,  shut  out  at 
the  north  and  south,  were  late  in  finding  an  entrance 
into  the  regions  so  abundant  in  furs.  Their  efforts 
were  futile  until  an  entering  wedge,  in  the  form  of 
fleets  of  canoes,  floated  down  the  Ohio.  Armed 
traders  forced  their  way,  sold  goods  cheaply,  and 
won  friends  among  the  red  men. 


3o6  LOST   MARAMECH 

With  the  beginning  and  increase  of  their  trade 
came,  and  grew  to  disastrous  dimensions,  the 
troubles  of  the  French.  In  1747  Sieur  de  Langueil, 
in  command  at  Detroit,  succeeded  in  calming  the 
Sacs,  Foxes,  Pottawatomies,  and  Miamis.  They 
promised  fidelity  to  the  French  father.  The  com 
mandant  took  little  stock  in  their  avowal  of  friend 
ship,  however,  as  each  tribe  had  recently  killed 
Frenchmen.  By  1748  the  English  had  reached  the 
Illinois  regions  in  considerable  force.  The  Illinois 
tribe,  still  true  to  the  French,  only  a  few  years 
before  could  have  successfully  resisted  the  English; 
but  now  they  were  languishing  and  also  lacked  the 
essentials  to  a  long  campaign.  The  French  clearly 
saw  that  the  loss  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the 
trade  of  Canada  seemed  inevitable. 

A  military  report  of  1748  reads: 

"Of  all  of  the  Indians  who  are  going  home  [from 
the  council]  there  are  many  faithful  ones  who  are 
most  ^anxious  to  go  back  to  their  country  to  labor, 
as  was  seen  here,  to  reestablish  peace.  They  belong 
to  the  river  St.  Joseph,  and  are  principally  Potta 
watomies,  who  are  all  allied  with  the  Miamis,  Sacs, 
Foxes,  and  Folle  Avoine.  Their  first  harangue  was 
delivered  with  energy  to  convince  us  of  their  fidelity 
and  attachment  to  the  French,  whom  they  would 
rather  die  with  than  ever  abandon.  .  .  .  The  Otta- 
was  have  killed  some  [Frenchmen];  the  Foxes  of 
The  Bay,  the  Sioux  and  the  Sacs,  in  a  word,  all  the 
nations,  so  to  speak,  have  struck  whenever  an  oppor 
tunity  presented;  we  dissimulate,  as  we  are  unable 
to  do  anything  else;  their  bad  excuses  are  received 
as  sincere  and  ours  refuse  to  do  the  like.  .  Three 


AND   EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


307 


strange  Indians  from  Fond  du  Lac  came  at  the 
end  of  July  to  the  Illinois  country,  with  a  message 
from  the  English,  in  the  name  of  the  Iroquois, 
Hurons,  Abenaquis,  Pouz  [Pottawatomies],  Ottawas, 
and  all  the  Wabash  tribes,  inviting  the  Illinois  to 
abandon  the  French,  to  withdraw  and  go  to  the 
Cahokias,  and  they  would  come  and  cut  them  [the 
French]  off,  after  which  the  English  would  come  to 
the  Illinois  and  supply  their  necessities  abundantly. 
.  .  .  Mr.  de  Berthet  has  been  informed  by  a  Huron 
returning  from  the  Chicachas  war,  who  had  spent 
the  winter  at  Scioto  with  the  Shawnees,  of  the 
league  formed  by  the  latter  to  destroy  the  upper 
country  posts;  this  Huron  assured  him  that  the 
Iroquois  of  the  great  village,  as  well  as  all  the 
other  nations,  had  accepted  the  tomahawk  against 
the  French  and  had  all  united  to  seize  the  French 
posts,  beginning  with  the  Illinois  country.  .  .  . 
Mr.  de  Berthet,  the  commandant  at  the  Illinois, 
writes  us,  in  the  months  of  November  and  Decem 
ber,  about  the  general  conspiracy  of  the  Indians 
against  the  French,  which  was  instigated  by  the 
English,  who  always  employ  the  Five  Nations  [the 
Iroquois]  to  convey  their  sinister  belts;  the  Illinois 
narrowly  escaped  being  seduced.  .  .  .  He  [Vau- 
dreuil]  is,  however,  not  free  from  uneasiness  in 
regard  to  the  projects  of  the  English.  He  has 
learned  that  they  have  succeeded  in  causing  a  revolt 
among  the  Miamis,  at  present  settled  on  Rock  river 
(marked  with  a  cross  on  the  map)  ;*  the  Weas,  a 

*  Until  this  map  is  found  I  shall  continue  to  believe  that  the 
river  referred  to  is  the  one  known  to  the  French  as  River  of 


Now  the  hill's  gentle  slope  is  shocked  only 
by  the  battles  of  the  elements. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  309 

blood  of  women  and  children  might  again  have 
reddened  the  sod  of  Maramech  Hill,  which  saw, 
however,  only  the  scowls  upon  the  brows  of  the 
angered  natives,  for  the  clouds  of  war  passed  away. 

Over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  since 
dropped  the  blossoms  and  ripened  the  nuts  on  Mara 
mech  Hill,  yet  haunted,  mayhap,  by  the  ghosts  of 
the  murdered  Foxes,  but  its  sod  has  received  no  new 
scars. 

At  Fort  Duquesne,  in  1755,  a  few  Foxes  joined 
the  French  in  that  memorable  battle  which  resulted 
in  the  crushing  defeat  and  death  of  General  Brad- 
dock;  and  some  attacked  the  French  upon  Lake 
George  in  1757. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

In  1760  the  Foxes  joined  the  Sioux  against  the 
Ojibways,  and  we  are  told  by  Schoolcraft  (Part  II., 
149)  that  Waub-o-jeeg  collected  a  party  of  three 
hundred  warriors  and  floated  down  the  St.  Croix 
river,  at  their  head,  into  the  country  of  their  ene 
mies. 

At  the  mouth  of  Snake  river  they  were  to  meet  a 
party  collected  from  Mille-Lac  and  Sand  lake  to 
join  them  on  their  excursion.  Not  finding  the  party 
as  expected,  and  confident  in  his  numbers,  Waub-o- 
jeeg  pursued  his  course  down  stream,  leaving  marks, 
however,  by  which  the  other  party  would  be  guided. 

Arriving  early  in  the  morning  at  the  head  of  the 
portage  that  led  around  the  falls  of  St.  Croix,  the 
men  had  already  lifted  their  light  canoes  on  their 
heads  to  carry  across  the  portage  when  the  scouts 
came  in  with  news  that  a  large  party  of  Sioux  and 
Foxes  were  landing  at  the  foot  of  the  portage. 
The  Ojibways  put  on  their  war  paint  and  ornaments, 
and  in  the  middle  of  the  portage  they  met  their 
enemies,  who  were  on  the  same  errand  as  they. 
The  combined  Sioux  and  Fox  warriors  were  much 
more  numerous  than  the  Ojibways;  so  much  so  that 
it  is  said  that  the  Foxes,  confident  in  their  numbers, 
requested  the  Sioux  to  stand  by  and  see  how  easily 
they  could  rout  the  Ojibways.  The  Sioux,  there 
fore,  stood  or  sat  on  the  rocks  at  a  distance,  quietly 

smoking  their  pipes. 

311 


312  LOST   MARAMECH 

The  fight  is  said  to  have  been  fierce  and  hardly 
contested.  About  noon  the  Foxes  commenced  to 
give  ground,  having  lost  some  of  their  leading  men. 
At  last  they  turned  and  fled,  the  Ojibways  after 
them.  They  would  probably  have  been  killed  to  a 
man  and  driven  into  the  water  had  not,  at  this 
moment,  the  Sioux,  eager  and  fresh  for  fight,  raised 
their  war-whoop  and  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  their 
defeated  allies. 

The  Ojibways  resisted  their  new  enemies  man 
fully,  but  they,  in  turn,  showed  their  backs  in  flight. 
But  few  would  have  escaped  to  tell  the  sad  tale  of 
their  defeat  had  not,  at  this  juncture,  the  party  from 
Sandy  lake,  who  were  to  have  met  them  at  Snake 
river,  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  portage;  seeing 
their  friends  driven  over  the  rocks  into  the  water 
they  jumped  out  of  their  canoes,  and  the  sixty  war 
riors,  fresh  for  the  contest,  withstood  the  onset  of 
the  Sioux  and  Foxes  until  their  friends  rallied  again 
to  the  fight. 

The  allied  Sioux  and  Foxes  being  out  of  ammuni 
tion,  are  said  to  have  again  fled,  and  their  slaughter 
is  stated  to  have  been  great.  Many  were  driven 
over  the  steep  rocks  into  the  boiling  rapids  below, 
and  every  crevice  in  the  rocks  contained  a  dead  or 
wounded  enemy. 

From  this  time  the  Foxes  retired  south,  and  gave 
up  the  contest  with  their  victorious  enemies. 

Captain  Carver  tells  us,  in  his  Travels ',  that  near 
the  site  of  Prairie  du  Chien  he  observed  the  ruins  of 
a  large  town  in  a  pleasing  situation.  He  was  in 
formed  this  was  the  site  of  the  ancient  Fox  village. 

"On  inquiring  of  the  neighboring  Indians  why  it 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  313 

was  deserted,  I  was  informed  that  about  thirty  years 
ago  the  Great  Spirit  appeared  on  the  top  of  a  pyra 
mid  of  rocks,  which  lay  a  little  distance  to  the  west, 
and  warned  them  to  quit  their  habitations,  for  the 
land  on  which  they  lived  belonged  to  Him  and  He 
had  occasion  for  it.  As  a  proof  to  them  that  He 
who  gave  them  their  orders  was  really  the  Great 
Spirit,  He  told  them  the  grass  should  immediate 
ly  spring  on  these  very  rocks  from  whence  He 
addressed  them,  which  they  knew  to  be  barren. 
The  Indians  obeyed,  and  soon  after  discovered  that 
the  change  had  taken  place.  They  showed  me  the 
spot,  but  the  growth  of  grass  appeared  no  way 
supernatural.  I  considered  this  to  have  been  a 
piece  of  strategy  of  the  French  or  Spaniards  to 
answer  some  selfish  view.  .  .  . 

"Soon  after  their  removal  they  built  a  town  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin,  at  a  place  called  by  the  French  'La 
Prairie  les  Chien,'  which  signifies  'the  dog  plain.' 
It  is  a  large  town  and  contains  about  three  hundred 
families.  The  houses  are  well  built,  after  the  Indian 
manner,  and  are  pleasantly  situated  on  very  rich 
soil,  from  which  they  raise  every  necessary  of  life  in 
great  abundance.  This  town  is  the  great  mart 
where  all  of  the  western  tribes,  and  those  who 
inhabit  the  remote  branches  of  the  Mississippi,  annu 
ally  assemble  about  the  end  of  May,  bringing  with 
them  their  furs  to  dispose  of  to  the  traders." 

The  dates  above  given  are  questioned  by  some. 
The  fact  that  they  numbered  about  fifteen  hundred 
people  shows  that  the  Foxes  could  probably  muster 
two  or  three  hundred  warriors. 


3i4  LOST    MARAMECH 

In  1763  they  are  given  in  the  report  as  numbering 
about  three  hundred  and  twenty  warriors. 

It  is  probable  that  never  a  year  passed  but  that 
some  branch  of  the  Fox  tribe  was  embroiled  against 
the  whites  or  neighboring  tribes. 

The  Foxes  increased  in  numbers  rapidly,  as  is 
shown  by  an  account  given  in  Drake's  Life  of  Black 
Hawk,  page  45,  from  which  I  quote: 

"The  Reynards  reside  in  three  villages;  the  first 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  six  miles  above 
the  rapids  of  the  river  de  Roche  [Rock  river];  the 
second  about  twelve  miles  in  the  rear  of  the  lead 
mines,  and  the  third  on  Turkey  river,  half  a  league 
from  its  source.  They  are  engaged  in  the  same 
wars,  and  have  the  same  alliance  as  the  Sauks,  with 
whom  they  must  be  considered  as  indissoluble  in 
war  and  peace.  They  'thunt  on  both  sides  of  the 
Mississippi,  from  the  river  Iowa  (below  the  Prairie 
des  Chiens)  to  a  river  of  that  name  above  said  vil 
lage.  They  raise  a  great  quantity  of  corn,  beans, 
and  melons,  the  former  of  these  articles  in  such 
quantities  as  to  sell  many  hundred  bushels  per 
annum." 

In  1805,  according  to  Lieutenant  Pike,  the  total 
number  of  people  in  the  Sauk  nation  was  two  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  of  whom  fourteen  hun 
dred  were  children,  seven  hundred  and  fifty  women, 
and  seven  hundred  warriors.  They  resided  in  a  vil 
lage  and  had  about  seven  hundred  stand  of  arms. 
Their  trade  was  principally  in  deerskins,  with  some 
bear  and  a  few  otter,  beaver,  and  raccoon  skins. 
The  total  number  of  the  Foxes  was  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty,  of  whom  eight  hundred  and 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


315 


fifty  were  children,  five  hundred  women,  and  four 
hundred  warriors,  with  about  four  hundred  stand  of 
arms;  their  village  and  their  trade  being  the  same  as 
those  of  the  Sacs. 

Some  further  items  of  information  about  these 
tribes  may  be  gleaned  from  the  statistics  furnished 
by  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition.  It  is  there  stated 
that  the  Saukee,  or  O-sau-kee  (Sacs),  spoke  a  primi 
tive  language,  dwelt  principally  in  two  villages,  had 
about  five  hundred  warriors  and  two  thousand  souls 
in  all  in  the  tribe,  and  were  at  war  with  the  Osages, 
Chippewas,  and  Sioux.  The  Foxes  (or  Ot-tar-gar-me, 
in  the  Saukee  language)  then  numbered  not  more 
than  twelve  hundred  souls  and  about  three  hundred 
warriors.  "These  nations"  [the  Sacs  and  Foxes], 
says  Mr.  Lewis,  "are  so  perfectly  consolidated  that 
they  may  in  fact  be  considered  as  one  nation.  They 
are  extremely  friendly  to  the  whites  and  seldom  injure 
their  traders;  but  they  are  the  most  implacable  ene 
mies  to  the  Indian  nations  with  whom  they  are  at 
war;  to  them  is  justly  attributed  the  almost  entire 
destruction  of  the  Missouries,  the  Illinois,  the  Caho- 
kias,  Kaskaskias,  and  Peorias." 

In  1825  the  secretary  of  war  estimated  the  entire 
number  of  Sacs  and  Foxes  at  four  thousand  six  hun 
dred  souls,  and  in  1826  the  warriors  were  supposed 
to  number  between  twelve  and  fourteen  hundred. 
Supposing  these  estimates  to  approximate  the  truth, 
it  appears  that  during  the  twenty  years  between 
1805  and  1825,  these  tribes  had  increased  very  con 
siderably  in  numbers. 

The  traders  generally,  and  those  who  had  most 
intercourse  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  spoke  of  them 


3i6  LOST   MARAMECH 

as  honest  in  their  dealings,  and  felt  safe  among 
them,  seldom  locking  their  doors  by  day  or  night, 
and  allowing  them  free  ingress  to  their  stores  and 
houses.  Their  reputation  for  courage,  it  appears, 
does  not  stand  quite  so  fair.  Lieutenant  Pike 
speaks  of  them  as  being  more  dreaded  by  their  sav 
age  brethren  for  "their  deeds  and  inclinations  for 
stratagem  than  for  their  open  courage."  Major 
Thomas  Forsythe,  late  United  States  agent  among 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  calls  them  a  dastardly  and 
cowardly  set  of  Indians.  The  correctness  of  these 
charges  may  be  questioned.  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  in 
speaking  of  the  Foxes,  says:  "The  history  of  their 
migrations  and  wars  shows  them  to  have  been  a 
restless  and  spirited  people,  erratic  in  their  disposi 
tions,  having  a  great  contempt  for  agriculture  and  a 
predominant  passion  for  war."  He  adds:  "They 
still  retain  their  ancient  character  and  are  constantly 
embroiled  in  wars  and  disputes  with  their  neigh 
bors,  the  results  of  which  show  that  they  have  more 
courage  in  battle  than  wisdom  in  council." 

In  a  report  of  the  war  department  to  the  Presi 
dent,  made  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Cass,  in  1832,  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  are  spoken  of  as  being  distinguished 
for  their  "daring  spirit  of  adventure  and  for  their 
natural  courage." 

In  1811,  there  being  a  strong  probability  of  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  a  deputation  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  visited  Washington  City  to  see  the  Presi 
dent,  by  whom  they  were  told  that,  in  the  event  of 
a  war  taking  place  with  England,  their  great  father 
did  not  wish  them  to  interfere  on  either  side,  but  to 
remain  neutral.  He  did  not  want  their  assistance, 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  317 

but  desired  them  to  hunt  and  support  their  families 
and  live  in  peace.  Immediately  after  the  war  of 
1812  began,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  with  whom,  as  with 
Indians  generally,  war  is  the  great  business  of  life, 
felt  that  they  ought,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  take 
sides  with  one  party  or  the  other,  and  went  to  St. 
Louis  to  offer  their  services  to  the  United  States 
agent  to  fight  against  the  British;  but  the  offer  was 
declined  on  the  ground  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  had  resolved  not  to  employ  the 
Indians  in  that  capacity.  The  machinations  of  the 
British,  however,  were  successfully  continued.  The 
Sacs  and  Foxes  divided  upon  the  question  of 
taking  up  arms  against  the  United  States.  A  part  of 
them  claimed  the  protection  of  the  American  gov 
ernment,  and  received  it;  a  part  joined  the  British 
standard,  Black  Hawk  among  the  number,  and 
fought  against  the  Americans  until  the  peace  of 
1815.  The  number  of  warriors  who  joined  the  Brit 
ish  is  supposed  to  have  been  about  two  hundred,  and 
they  have  ever  since  been  known  as  the  "British 
Band,"  at  the  head  of  which  was  General  Black 
Hawk. 


CHAPTER    XX 

The  main  reason  given  by  the  early  French 
traders,  be  it  remembered,  for  desiring  to  destroy 
the  Foxes,  was  that  the  Foxes,  whose  home  for  so 
many  years  was  along  the  Wisconsin  river,  interfered 
with  the  French  traders,  requiring  them  to  pay  toll 
for  the  right  to  pass  through  their  country;  but  we 
learn  that  the  French  military  officers,  after  the 
river  had  come  into  their  possession,  probably  did 
precisely  the  same  thing. 

In  1827,  when  the  Hon.  Henry  S.  Beaty  and  Judge 
Doty  were  passing  up  the  Wisconsin  river,  they 
were  halted  by  a  sentinel  who  was  stationed  upon 
the  wharf  at  a  trading  post  and  ordered  ashore.  The 
command  was  at  first  disregarded  and  the  oarsmen 
were  instructed  to  go  on.  They  became  alarmed, 
however,  when  the  sentinel  made  ready  with  his 
musket  and  threatened  to  fire  if  the  boat  did  not 
immediately  come  ashore.  The  boat  approached 
and  they  were  met  at  the  wharf  by  the  officer  of  the 
day,  of  whom  they  inquired  when  war  had  been 
declared.  He  sheepishly  replied  that  it  was  a 
standing  order  of  the  post  that  no  boat  or  vessel 
should  be  permitted  to  pass  without  reporting. 
There  were  general  complaints  that  the  officers 
expected,  and  usually  received,  a  reward  for  permit 
ting  traders  to  pass. 

"Upon  the  igth  of  August,  1825,  William  Clark 
319 


320  LOST   MARAMECH 

and  Lewis  Cass,  commissioners  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  concluded  a  treaty  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  in  the  territory  of  Michigan,  with  the  chiefs 
and  warriors  of  the  Sioux,  Winnebagoes,  Menomi- 
nees,  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Sacs, 
Foxes,  and  loways.  The  objects  of  this  treaty  were 
the  restoration  of  peace  among  the  Indian  tribes, 
several  of  whom  had  been  for  some  time  waging  war 
against  each  other,  the  settlement  of  boundary 
lines  between  these  tribes  respectively,  and  between 
them  and  the  United  States.  The  commissioners 
succeeded  in  effecting  a  peace  between  the  Sioux 
and  Chippeways,  and  between  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  and 
loways  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Sioux  on  the  other; 
and  also  in  adjusting  the  boundary  lines  of  the  ter 
ritory  of  each  tribe  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 
Under  this  treaty  nothing  was  asked  by  the  United 
States  nor  was  anything  granted  to  them;  the  char 
acter  in  which  the  government  presented  itself 
being  simply  that  of  a  pacificator. 

"The  concourse  of  Indians  assembled  at  this 
council  was  very  great.  About  three  thousand 
came  to  the  council  ground,  clothed  in  their  war 
dresses,  and  armed  with  bows,  war-clubs,  and  toma 
hawks.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  were  the  last  to  arrive, 
but  were  very  imposing  and  warlike  in  their  appear 
ance  when  they  reached  the  ground.  They  ascended 
the  Mississippi  to  Prairie  du  Chien  in  a  fleet  of 
canoes,  lashed  together.  They  passed  and  repassed 
the  town  in  a  connected  squadron,  standing  erect  in 
their  canoes,  in  full  dress,  singing  their  war  songs. 
Upon  landing,  they  drew  up  in  martial  order,  as  if 
in  warlike  defiance  of  their  bitter  enemies,  the 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  321 

Sioux,  who  were  encamped  near  the  shore,  and  who, 
in  turn,  shot  back  the  fierce  looks  of  hostility  upon 
their  ancient  foe.  An  eye-witness  describes  this 
scene  as  one  unique  and  singularly  magnificent. 
The  council  was  held  under  a  spacious  booth  of 
green  boughs,  and  lasted  for  several  days.  Keokuk 
was  present  on  this  occasion,  as  the  head  chief  of 
the  Sacs,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  council;  his 
course  being  marked  by  that  moderation  and  sound 
policy  for  which  he  is  eminently  distinguished." 
(Drake's  Life  of  Black  Hawk,  p.  67.) 

"The  Sauks  and  Foxes*  have  a  historical  legend 
of  a  severe  battle  having  been  fought  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Iowa  river,  about  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  river.  The  Sauks  and 
Foxes  descended  the  Mississippi  in  canoes,  and, 
landing  at  the  place  above  described,  started  east, 
toward  the  enemy;  they  had  not  gone  far  before 
they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  the  Mascoutins. 
The  battle  continued  nearly  all  day;  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes,  for  want  of  ammunition,  finally  gave  way 
and  fled  to  their  canoes;  the  Mascoutins  pursued 
them  and  fought  desperately,  and  left  but  few  of 
the  Sauks  and  Foxes  to  carry  home  the  story  of  their 
defeat.  Some  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes  attacked  a  small  village  of  Peorias,  about 
a  mile  below  St.  Louis  and  were  there  defeated. 
At  a  place  on  the  Illinois  river  called  Little  Rock, 
there  were  formerly  killed  by  the  Chippeways  and 
Ottawas  a  number  of  men,  women,  and  children  of 

*The  total  number  of  Foxes  given  in  1750  by  Lieutenant 
Pike  was  eight  hundred  and  fifty  children,  five  hundred 
women,  and  four  hundred  warriors,  the  latter  well  armed. 


322  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  Minneway  [Illinois]  nation.  In  1800  the  Kicka- 
poos  made  a  great  slaughter  of  the  Kaskaskia 
[Illinois]  Indians."  (Drake's  Life  of  Black  Hawk^ 
p.  17.) 

Going  back  to  Revolutionary  times: 

When  the  Foxes  learned  that  war  had  been  de 
clared  between  Great  Britain  and  its  colony,  all  felt 
that  they  must  take  a  hand;  but  whether  to  unite 
with  the  English  or  with  the  rebels,  using  the  Eng 
lish  term  that  soon  became  familiar  to  them,  was 
long  debated,  and  they  became  divided.  During 
the  many  years  of  the  struggle  an  opportunity  was 
given  to  any  one  who  might  choose  to  serve  Great 
Britain  or  the  colonies  struggling  to  free  themselves 
from  oppression.  The  brandy  trade,  more  than  any 
other,  seems  to  have  influenced  the  Foxes — all  the 
Indians  believed  that  the  white  settlers  wished  to 
destroy  the  tribe  both  by  drink  and  by  war.  Some 
Indians  were  killed  by  white  men  and  an  officer 
thought  to  pacify  the  members  of  the  tribe  by  a 
present  of  whisky.  A  Fox  chief  called  Le  Chat 
(the  cat)  became  very  much  offended  and  stove  in  a 
barrel  of  whisky,  saying  that  that  present  "did  not 
pay  for  the  bodies  of  the  two  dead  men  whom  the 
whites  had  killed." 

The  British  officers  succeeded  in  recruiting  twenty 
Foxes  and  twenty  Sacs  for  service  in  the  Revolu 
tionary  war  against  the  Americans.  The  warriors 
of  these  and  neighboring  tribes  were  employed 
along  the  Mississippi  river,  and  at  times  did  good 
service  against  the  Americans  in  the  southern  por 
tions  of  Illinois,  but  at  times  vacillated.  They  were 
often  charged  with  having  "listened  to  the  rebels." 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


323 


Even  the  Ottawas  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and 
Lake  Superior  were  urged,  under  the  leadership  of 
a  Chippewa  chief,  to  unite  with  the  Sioux,  Sacs, 
and  Foxes  against  the  rebels  on  the  Illinois  and  near 
that  quarter,  the  operations  to  be  directed  against 
bodies  of  armed  men  and  forts  or  strongholds  by 
siege,  as  the  garrisons  of  those  places  were  de 
pendent  on  the  inhabitants,  who  were  weary  of  their 
demands,  for  their  daily  bread.  The  warriors 
recruited  among  those  tribes  were  ordered  to  ren 
dezvous  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  and 
for  a  time  excursions  were  made  wherever  it  was 
believed  that  effective  blows  could  be  struck.  A 
portion  of  them  were  sent  to  watch  the  lead  mines 
with  a  view  to  preventing  the  rebels  from  obtaining 
lead.  One  of  the  successful  excursions  was  made 
against  the  Americans  at  Cahokia,  in  which  several 
hundred  cattle  were  destroyed  and  forty-three 
scalps,  thirty-four  prisoners,  black  and  white,  were 
taken,  and  about  seventy  persons  killed;  but  the 
Indians  were  beaten  off,  owing  to  the  treachery  of 
some  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  and  the  interpreter,  it 
was  said. 

The  Foxes  were  scolded  and  praised,  in  turn,  by 
the  English,  whether  censured  or  praised  depending 
upon  the  intentions  they  at  that  moment  expressed. 
An  English  officer  at  Mackinaw,  in  1780,  wrote: 
"The  Sacs  and  Foxes  have  taken  up  the  hatchets 
against  us";  and  in  1781  Sinclair  wrote  to  the  Gov 
ernor:  "The  Sacs  and  Foxes  from  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  with  the  Menominee  Indians,  have 
arrived,  and  more  are  expected  daily  from  other 
tribes  bordering  on  the  Illinois  country  who  have 


324  LOST   MARAMECH 

sent  to  inform  me  that  they  do  not  mean  any  longer 
to  listen  to  the  tales  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
enemy"  (the  British).  It  thus  seems  that  the  Eng 
lish  were  no  more  successful  in  winning  the  con 
stancy  of  the  Foxes  than  the  French  had  been. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

LEAD    MINES 

The  Foxes  were  among  those  first  to  learn  from 
the  French  the  value  of  the  mineral  found  along  the 
upper  Mississippi  river  and  its  tributaries.  While  it 
is  probable  that  earlier  travelers  learned  of  the 
existence  of  the  lead  mines,  Perrot  must  be  credited 
with  making  them  known. 

We  read  in  La  Potherie  (II.,  251):  "A  Mascoutin 
chief  presented  him  [Perrot]  with  a  fragment  of  ore 
that  he  had  found  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  which 
discharges  into  the  Mississippi."  And  again:  "The 
great  chief  of  the  Miamis,  knowing  that  Perrot  was 
there  [had  arrived],  sent  to  him  a  war-chief  and  ten 
young  warriors,  to  say  to  him  that  his  [the  chief's] 
village  was  four  leagues  below  and  that  he  much 
wished  to  join  him  [Perrot]  at  his  fire  [camping- 
place].  The  chief  came,  two  days  after,  accom 
panied  by  twenty  men  and  their  wives,  and  pre 
sented  him  with  a  fragment  taken  from  a  lead  mine. 
Perrot  pretended  not  to  know  the  utility  of  the 
mineral,  even  reproaching  the  chief  for  making  such 
a  present,  by  which  he  intended  to  cover  the  two 
dead  Frenchmen  that  the  Mascoutins  had  assassi 
nated,  with  the  three  Miamis  who  had  escaped  from 
the  Iroquois."  (La  Potherie,  II.,  260.) 

The  primitive  manner  of  mining  and  smelting  the 
ores  by  the  Indians  is  described  in  Smith's  History 
of  Wisconsin  (III.,  353): 

"The  Indians  had  their  lead  diggings  in  many 
325 


326  LOST   MARAMECH 

parts  of  the  country,  now  properly  called  the  lead- 
bearing  region;  these  diggings  were  of  course  shal 
low,  they  not  possessing  either  the  necessary  tools, 
the  ability,  or  the  industry  of  sinking  shafts  of  any 
depth.  Their  mode  of  smelting  was  thus:  A  hole, 
or  cavity,  was  dug  in  the  face  of  a  piece  of  sloping 
ground,  about  two  feet  in  depth,  and  as  much  in 
width  at  the  top;  this  hole  was  made  in  the  shape 
of  a  mill-hopper,  and  lined,  or  faced,  with  flat 
stones.  At  the  bottom,  or  point  of  the  hopper, 
which  was  about  eight  or  nine  inches  square,  other 
narrow  stones  were  laid  across,  grate-wise;  a  chan 
nel,  or  eye,  was  dug  from  the  sloping  side  of  the 
ground,  inwards,  to  the  bottom  of  the  hopper;  this 
channel  was  about  a  foot  in  width  and  in  height, 
and  was  filled  with  dry  wood  and  brush.  The  hop 
per  being  filled  with  the  mineral  and  the  wood 
ignited,  in  a  few  minutes  the  molten  lead  fell 
through  the  stones,  at  the  bottom  of  the  hopper, 
and  thence  was  discharged  through  the  eye  over 
the  earth.  It  was  certainly  a  simple  but  rough  and 
improvident  way  of  gathering  the  melted  lead;  but 
in  the  great  abundance  of  mineral,  and  ease  of  its 
procuration,  it  sufficed  for  the  wants  of  the  Indians. 
At  many  of  these  primitive  smelting  places  the 
white  settlers  afterward  extracted  a  profitable  har 
vest  of  rich  lead  from  the  slag  and  refuse  of  the 
Indian  laborers'  smelting;  but  even  with  the  whites, 
in  after  time,  the  old  ash-and-log  furnace  was  little 
better  than  the  Indian  mode  of  smelting,  in  regard 
to  economy." 

The  Indians  guarded  the  mines,  fearing  that  the 
white  men  wo-  'd  take  possession.     They  were  espe- 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  327 

cially  particular  that  no  American  should  learn  their 
location. 

In  1816  Col.  John  Shaw,  a  boatman,  was  a  com 
mon  carrier,  taking  merchandise  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  trading  posts  on  the  upper  Mississippi.  Hav 
ing  discharged  his  load  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  he 
descended  to  Fever  river  to  load  with  lead  for  St. 
Louis  that  had  been  received  in  payment  for  goods, 
by  the  merchants  of  that  city.  The  traders,  respect 
ing  the  wishes  of  the  Indians,  requested  Colonel 
Shaw  to  wait  at  the  mouth  of  Fever  river  until  the 
lead  could  be  delivered  to  him.  This  the  Colonel 
refused  to  do,  as  he  could  not  wait  so  long,  and 
asked  permission  to  go  up  the  river  for  the  lead. 
The  Indians  declined,  replying  that  "the  Americans 
must  not  see  their  lead  mines,"  as  they  were  partic 
ularly  suspicious  of  Americans ;  but  they  did  not  feel 
the  same  toward  the  Frenchmen,  with  whom  they 
had  been  so  long  associated.  As  the  Colonel  spoke 
French  as  fluently  as  he  did  English,  the  traders 
told  the  Indians  that  he  was  a  Frenchman  as  well 
as  the  boatmen,  the  last  being  true.  A  little  persua 
sion  opened  the  way  to  the  smelting  works.  He 
found  no  town,  but  many  camps  and  about  twenty 
furnaces.  The  molten  lead  was  run  into  "flats,"  of 
about  seventy  pounds  each,  being  formed  by  smelt 
ing  the  mineral  in  a  small  walled  hole  in  which  the 
fuel  and  mineral  were  mingled  and  the  liquid  lead 
run  out,  in  front,  into  a  hole  scooped  in  the  earth  so 
that  a  bowl-shaped  mass  of  lead  was  formed.  The 
squaws  dug  the  mineral  and  carried  it  in  sacks,  on 
their  heads,  to  the  furnaces.  (Wisconsin  Historical 
Collections  >  II.,  226.) 


328  LOST   MARAMECH 

By  the  methods  of  mining  among  the  Foxes, 
Sacs,  and  Pottavvatomies,  who  owned  the  mineral 
lands,  much  mineral  was  left  in  the  old  diggings 
among  the  debris,  which  made  reworking  by  the 
whites  quite  profitable. 

The  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburn,  referring  to  the  lead 
mines,  tells  us  that  the  discovery  of  certain  new 
mines  was  regarded  as  a  great  secret  by  the  Indians, 
and  one  not  to  be  divulged  without  offending  the 
Great  Spirit.  Their  desire  for  profit,  however,  was 
so  great  that  they  sought  to  reveal  the  secret  in  a 
way  that,  they  believed,  could  not  be  considered  by 
the  Great  Spirit  as  a  violation  of  His  commands. 
So  they  told  a  prospector,  with  whom  they  had 
some  dealing,  that  if  he  would  go  to  the  top  of  a 
hill  with  them  they  would  shoot  an  arrow  in  the 
direction  of  their  newly-discovered  mines.  (Wis 
consin  Historical  Collections,  X. ,  244.)  They  soon 
drove  him  off,  however;  but  other  white  men, 
through  the  agency  of  a  squaw,  acquired  rights  to 
mine  there,  yet  their  primitive  methods  were  little 
improvement  over  those  of  the  simple  people  who, 
as  many  times  before,  had  permitted  the  invaders 
to  gain  an  advantage  over  them,  which  advantage 
meant,  in  the  end,  utter  destruction. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war  some  of  the  west 
ern  tribes  had  been  won  over  to  the  British,  but  not 
so  were  the  French  and  Indians  in  the  country  of 
the  Illinois.  The  Foxes  and  Sacs,  among  others, 
received  orders  from  the  British  commander  to  pro 
ceed  to  the  lead  mines  and  prevent  the  people  of 
the  Illinois  region  from  availing  themselves  of  the 
lead  ore.  The  Illinois  were  informed  that  no 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


329 


quarter  would  be  given  them  if  they  ventured 
near. 

That  mining  became  an  important  industry  is 
shown  by  facts  told  in  Vol.  II.,  p.  252,  of  the  Wis 
consin  Historical  Collections,  where  a  letter  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  written  in  1811,  states  that  "the 
Sacs,  Foxes,  and  lowas  can  be  as  well  supplied  at 
the  latter  place  [Prairie  du  Chien]  as  at  the  former 
[St.  Louis];  particularly  as  they  have  mostly  aban 
doned  the  chase  except  to  furnish  themselves  with 
meat,  and  turned  their  attention  to  the  manufacture 
of  lead,  which  they  procure  from  a  mine  about  sixty 
miles  below  Prairie  du  Chien.  During  the  last 
season  they  manufactured  four  hundred  thousand 
pounds  of  that  article,  which  they  exchanged  for 
goods." 

This  prosperity  did  not  last  long,  for  the  avari- 
ciousness  of  the  whites  first  led  to  encroachments, 
then  to  murders,  and  soon  to  expulsion  by  the 
so-called  treaty  made  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1828,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  appointed  Governor  Cass  and  Col. 
Pierre  Menard  to  treat  with  certain  tribes  of  Indians 
for  the  cession  of  what  is  called  the  "mineral 
region"  lying  on  the  Mississippi,  south  of  the  Wis 
consin.  The  commissioners  arrived  at  Green  Bay 
late  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  and  on  the  25th  of 
August  made  a  temporary  agreement  with  the 
Indians,  by  which  the  whites  were  allowed  to  occupy 
the  country  where  the  lead  mines  were  worked;  and 
in  the  ensuing  year  a  treaty  was  to  be  made  with  the 
Indians  for  the  purchase  of  the  mineral  country.  In 
the  meantime,  no  white  man  was  to  cross  a  certain 


330  LOST   MARAMECH 

line,  specified  in  said  agreement,  to  dig  for  ore;  and 
finally  the  Indians  were  paid  twenty  thousand  dol 
lars  in  goods  for  the  trespasses  already  committed 
on  their  lands  by  the  white  miners.  This  agreement 
was  ratified  by  the  President  and  Senate  of  the 
United  States  on  January  7,  1829.  Soon  after  Presi 
dent  Jackson  came  into  office,  in  1829,  he  appointed 
General  McNeil  of  the  army  to  fill  the  place  of 
Governor  Cass  in  the  said  commission,  which  was  to 
meet  at  St.  Louis,  and  under  the  agreement  above 
mentioned  to  proceed  to  the  mineral  region  to  effect 
its  purchase  by  treaty.  In  consequence  of  some  dis 
agreement  in  opinion  between  these  two  commis 
sioners,  the  President  subsequently  appointed 
another,  Caleb  Atwater,  Esq.,  of  Ohio.  They 
reached  Prairie  du  Chien  about  the  middle  of  July, 
where  they  met  deputies  on  the  part  of  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  Chippeways,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies, 
Sioux,  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Menominees;  and  on  the 
first  of  August  a  treaty  was  concluded  for  about 
eight  million  acres,  extending  from  the  upper  end 
of  Rock  island  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  from 
latitude  41°  15'  to  latitude  43°  15'  on  the  Missis 
sippi.  Following  the  meanderings  of  the  river  the 
tract  was  about  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  from 
south  to  north.  It  extended  along  the  Wisconsin 
and  Fox  rivers  from  west  to  east  so  as  to  give  a  pas 
sage  across  the  country  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake 
Michigan. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

As  has  been  said,  traffic  was  carried  on  between 
tribes  when  peace  permitted.  The  great  trails  were 
worn  deep,  not  only  by  war  parties,  but  often  by 
braves  from  the  various  tribes  who  traversed  the  coun 
try  with  the  staple  products  of  their  own  sections. 
The  pipestone  of  Minnesota,  both  the  crude  article 
and  the  artistically  manufactured  product,  was  taken 
to  the  east  and  south.  The  flints  from  the  Mountain 
Limestone  beds  of  Tennessee  found  their  way  north 
ward  in  exchange  for  trinkets  and  for  the  copper  of 
the  north  in  both  its  crude  and  its  manufactured  state. 
The  roughed-out  flints,  so  abundantly  produced  in 
Ohio,  were  taken  westward  and  served  to  make  the 
spear-heads  and  knives  so  common  throughout  the 
Mississippi  valley,  in  regions  where  flint  of  the  kind 
is  not  plentiful. 

The  first  great  trail  of  traffic  and  war  known  in  the 
region  that  my  story  most  concerns,  reached  across 
the  great  prairies  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rock  river 
to  Chicago.  Others  joined  it  from  the  north  and 
south,  and  an  important  trail  followed  the  sinuous 
bluffs  of  Rock  river.  In  the  map  of  1680  (see  page 
27)  the  course  of  the  great  east-and-west  route  is 
shown,  and  identified  by  the  words  Chemin  du 
Retour.  The  author  of  the  map  I  refer  to  is  not 
known,  but  the  information  from  which  it  was  drawn 
was  gathered,  as  previously  stated,  from  early 
traders  and  from  the  Indians  who  knew  it  well.  For 


332  LOST   MARAMECH 

generations  their  ancestors  had  traveled  it.  Henne- 
pin  did  not  pass  over  the  trail,  but  his  map  of  1697 
is  the  first  to  lay  down  the  route  to  any  extent 
definitely.  (See  p.  40.)  De  Lisle's  map  of  1703 
(see  page  41)  shows  the  same  trail  in  dotted  lines. 
It  followed  the  southern  bank  of  Rock  river  to  a 
point  near  the  present  city  of  Dixon,  Illinois;  then 
struck  southeastwardly;  thence  down  the  Kishwau- 
kee  branch  to  a  point  near  the  "Great  Village  of 
Maramech,"  just  south  of  the  modern  little  city  of 
Piano,  in  Kendall  county,  and  from  thence  it  passed 
to  Chicago.  A  branch,  however,  struck  directly 
east  from  Maramech,  and,  passing  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan,  reached  Detroit.  Over  this  trail,  after 
the  French  had  taken  possession  of  the  region, 
deputies  from  the  tribes  passed  to  the  site  of  French 
power  in  Canada.  It  was  over  this  that  the  British 
band  of  Foxes,  during  the  first  third  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  passed  to  and  from  Maiden,  Canada, 
to  receive  annuities  from  the  British  general  there 
in  command;  and  later  over  this  trail  the  home- 
seekers  came  to  the  great  grove-studded  prairies, 
which  they  accepted  as  the  fulfillment  of  their 
hopes.  For  two  hundred  years,  at  least,  this  route, 
later  called  the  Sac  and  Fox  trail,  was  well  known; 
but  with  the  coming  of  the  plow  its  effacement 
began,  and  now  it  is  only  discernible  by  a  few 
scars. 

One  of  the  last  to  avail  himself  of  the  great  Sac 
and  Fox  trail  and  of  its  Kishwaukee  branch,  which 
latter  formed  a  feeder,  as  it  were,  was  John  Kinzie, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1831.  An  account  of 
the  journey  is  found  in  "Wau-Bun,"  a  delightful 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO 


333 


story  from  the  pen  of  Mrs.  Kinzie,  a  brave  but  some 
what  frail  and  helpless  member  of  the  party.  The 
time  of  her  experiences  was  near  the  dawn  of  the 
present  occupation,  and  well  did  she  name  her  book 
"Wau-Bun,"  a  native  word  meaning  "the  dawn." 

Early  in  March  they  left  Fort  Winnebago,  in 
Wisconsin,  on  their  way  to  Chicago.  The  swollen 
streams  made  it  best  to  strike  southwest,  so  as  to 
cross  Rock  river  at  Ogle's  Ferry.  They  stopped 
the  first  night  at  Kellogg's  Grove,  and  next  day 
reached  the  river  where,  the  larger  boat  having  been 
carried  away,  they  were  ferried  across  in  a  canoe. 
Mr.  Kellogg  joined  them,  as  he  had  business  to 
transact  at  Chicago;  and,  so  sure  was  he  that  the 
place  of  destination  would  be  reached  quickly  that 
he  endeavored  to  impress  upon  them  that  a  supply 
of  provisions  for  two  days  would  be  sufficient.  A 
hearty  breakfast  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Dixon  was 
ample  for  the  time  being.  Mr.  Dixon  assured  them 
that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  if  they  would  keep 
a  little  to  the  north  and  strike  the  great  Sac  Trail. 
Mrs.  Kinzie's  memory  was  evidently  at  fault  when 
mentioning  the  old  Sac  Trail,  for  that  trail,  when 
known  by  that  name,  passed  from  the  great  Sac  vil 
lage,  Saukenong,  directly  east,  and  did  not  pass  so 
far  northward  as  the  present  city  of  Dixon, 

Mr.  Dixon,  in  giving  his  directions,  probably  said 
that  the  Kishwaukee  Trail,  a  branch  of  the  Sac 
Trail,  would  be  reached  by  going  a  little  distance  to 
the  north.  He  assured  them  that  if  they  did  not  go 
far  enough  to  the  north  they  would  not  escape  the 
Winnebago  Swamp;  and,  once  in  that,  they  would 
have  difficulty  in  getting  out  again.  He  assured 


334  LOST   MARAMECH 

them  that  the  distance  to  Chicago  was  not  great; 
that  two  young  men  had  reached  Dixon  from  Chi 
cago  on  the  evening  of  the  second  day  of  travel,  and 
that,  even  with  a  lady  in  their  party,  they  could 
reach  Chicago  in  less  time  than  that.  He  impressed 
upon  them  that  they  must  be  sure  to  get  the  great 
trail  that  the  Sacs  had  made  in  going  from  the  Mis 
sissippi  river  to  Canada. 

They  took  their  leave  in  high  spirits,  and  traveled 
for  a  few  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  Rock  river 
in  a  somewhat  easterly  direction.  They  had  been 
told  that  the  road  would  cross  the  Sac  Trail  six 
miles  distant.  Mrs.  Kinzie  says  that  her  husband 
feared  the  guide,  Plante,  was  leading  them  too  far 
to  the  north,  for  the  trail  soon  brought  them  to  the 
great  bend  of  the  river,  now  known  as  Grand 
Detour.  This  fact  warranted  Mr.  Kinzie  in  ignoring 
the  guide  and  in  taking  his  course  directly  east. 
They  soon  came  to  the  Winnebago  Swamp,  which 
they  had  difficulty  in  crossing. 

On  the  1 5th  of  March  they  awoke  early  and,  feel 
ing  that  they  were  lost,  again  began  the  search  for 
the  great  trail.  After  traveling  many  miles,  they 
came  upon  an  Indian  trail,  deeply  worn,  running  at 
right  angles  with  the  course  they  were  pursuing. 
This  I  find,  from  a  careful  study  of  early  maps,  was 
the  Kishwaukee  Trail.  The  sky  was  overcast,  but 
the  clouds  were  so  thin  that  the  position  of  the 
sun  could  give  them  direction.  The  guide  was 
quite  sure  that  the  new  trail  should  be  followed 
northward;  but  Mr.  Kinzie  had  lost  confidence 
in  Plante  and  Kellogg,  and  after  traveling  a  few 
miles  he  turned  abruptly  saying  to  them  that 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


335 


they  might  go  north  if  they  pleased,  but  he  would 
turn  to  the  south  and  take  the  trail  in  that  direc 
tion. 

They  followed  the  trail  for  a  great  distance,  con 
trary  to  the  advice  of  the  guide  and  Mr.  Kellogg, 
who  frequently  assured  Mr.  Kinzie  that  he  was 
going  wrong.  At  last,  turning  a  point  of  woods, 
they  came  upon  an  Indian  village.  This,  no  doubt, 
was  the  village  of  Shabbona,  whose  people  were  yet 
away  on  their  winter's  hunt.  I  judge  that  it  was  the 
village  of  Shabbona  from  the  fact  that  the  Kish- 
waukee  Trail  passed  the  home  of  that  great  chief, 
who,  but  a  year  later,  showed  himself  to  be  a  warm 
friend  of  the  whites.  Provisions  had  become  short, 
and  the  travelers  were  much  disappointed  to  find  the 
village  vacant.  They  mounted  and  rode  on,  the 
snow  again  falling,  and  after  traveling  some  distance 
halted  for  the  night. 

After  a  cold  night,  their  hunger  being  relieved 
only  by  a  pot  of  coffee,  they  were  ready  for  the 
start.  The  last  three  crackers  were  given  to  Mrs. 
Kinzie  for  her  dinner,  and  Mr.  Kellogg  handed  her 
a  piece  of  tongue  and  a  slice  of  fruit  cake,  which  he 
had  been  "saving  for  the  lady"  since  the  day 
before.  The  trail  was  still  visible,  and  they  fol 
lowed  it  until  about  nine  o'clock,  when  they  reached 
Fox  river,  on  the  opposite  side  of  which  was  Wau- 
bansee's  village.  They  shouted,  but  no  answer 
came  for  the  village  was  deserted.  Mr.  Kinzie 
decided  to  take  a  cross-trail  that  passed  down  the 
bank  of  the  river,  hoping  to  find  Indians  wintering 
near.  They  followed  the  bank  of  the  river,  then  as 
now  bordered  by  timber.  Suddenly  Mrs.  Kinzie's 


336  LOST   MARAMECH 

horse  started,  and  she  called  to  her  husband  that 
Indians  were  near,  for,  as  she  says,  the  horse  was 
mortally  afraid  of  these  people;  at  the  same  time  a 
little  dog  ran  from  under  the  bushes  and  began  bark 
ing.  Riding  into  the  thicket  a  little  distance  they 
found  two  squaws,  crouching  behind  some  bushes, 
trying  to  conceal  themselves.  Addressing  them  in 
the  Pottawatomie  language,  Mr.  Kinzie  asked  them 
what  they  were  doing  there,  and  they  replied  that 
they  were  digging  Indian  potatoes.  Their  lodge 
was  across  the  river,  and  by  this  fact  Mr.  Kinzie 
gathered  that  they  must  have  a  canoe,  and  he  re 
quested  them  to  take  the  party  over.  What  kind  of 
a  canoe  it  was  we  are  not  told,  except  that  it  was 
small.  It  was  probably  a  dugout,  hewn  from  a  tree 
that  had  stood  near  by.  It  was  necessary  for  Mrs. 
Kinzie  to  lie  flat  on  her  back  in  the  canoe  while  the 
mother  kneeling  in  the  stern  and  the  daughter  at 
the  bow  paddled  across.  They  were  then  at  the 
site  of  ancient  Maramech,  the  old  Miami  town,  and 
this  Pottawatomie  family  was  probably  the  last  of 
native  blood  to  shelter  itself  amidst  the  great  trees 
that  border  the  river  and  stud  the  hills  near  by. 
Sylvan  Spring,  by  what  name  then  known  we  shall 
not  know,  bubbled  from  the  washed  sands  and  kissed 
the  water-cresses  as  now;  and  there  the  master  of 
the  family  made  his  winter  hunt,  and  the  wife,  with 
the  ample  hospitality  known  to  the  native  tribes 
only,  catered  to  those  who  came. 

On  being  asked  the  name  of  the  river,  the  woman 
could  only  reply,  "Sau-man-ong, "  the  word  being  a 
general  term  applied  to  any  large  stream.  Mr. 
Kinzie  became  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  vil- 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  337 

lage  they  had  passed  was  Waubansee's,  and  he  esti 
mated  that  they  were  then  about  fifty  miles  from 
Chicago,  which,  by  the  way,  is  practically  the  exact 
distance  from  Sylvan  Spring  to  our  modern  great 
city.  The  squaw  assured  Mr.  Kinzie  that  Chicago 
was  close  by,  which,  as  he  said,  he  took  to  mean 
that  it  was  probably  not  so  far  off  as  Canada.  The 
men  busied  themselves  unpacking  the  horses,  in 
order  to  ford  the  river.  The  old  woman,  returning 
to  aid  the  others  in  crossing,  left  the  younger  one 
with  Mrs.  Kinzie,  who  was  seated  on  the  trunk  of  a 
fallen  tree  amidst  the  snow.  The  prospects  were 
gloomy,  and  she  could  not  restrain  her  tears,  because 
of  the  utter  desolation  of  spirit  which  disappoint 
ment  had  wrought.  The  little  squaw,  Mrs.  Kinzie 
states,  was  looking  into  her  face  with  wonder  and 
sympathy,  and  seemed  to  be  speculating  what  could 
bring  tears  to  one  who  rode  so  fine  a  horse  and  was 
so  comfortably  clothed.  Soon  the  little  girl  was 
joined  by  another,  and  after  chattering  a  while  they 
trotted  off  into  the  woods. 

The  river  having  been  crossed,  Mrs.  Kinzie  fol 
lowed  the  squaw  to  her  lodge  a  little  distance  in  the 
woods.  It  was  nicely  arranged.  Four  sticks  of 
wood  placed  to  form  a  square  in  the  center  answered 
the  purpose  of  a  hearth,  and  in  this  the  fire  was 
burning,  the  smoke  escaping  through  an  opening  in 
the  roof.  The  hut  was  constructed  of  neat  new 
mats  tied  to  the  poles  that  formed  the  framework, 
and  on  these  poles  were  the  dried  food  and  other 
household  treasures.  Ladles,  a  small  kettle,  and 
wooden  bowls  also  hung  from  the  poles,  and  at  the 
center,  by  an  iron  chain  depending  from  the  frame- 


338  LOST   MARAMECH 

work,  a  kettle  was  hung.  In  the  kettle  food  for  the 
returning  hunter  was  being  prepared. 

Mr.  Kinzie  joined  his  wife  at  the  lodge.  They 
were  forced  to  disappoint  the  housewife  by  telling 
her  they  had  no  bread,  which,  by  the  way,  was 
always  much  prized  and  often  asked  for  by  the 
Indians.  When  she  learned  that  Mrs.  Kinzie  had 
had  no  breakfast,  she  filled  a  bowl  from  the  kettle 
and  presented  it.  It  was  a  soup  made  of  Indian 
potatoes,  and,  sauced  with  hunger,  it  was  highly 
relished.  The  two  little  girls  came,  and  were  much 
astonished  when  Mrs.  Kinzie  took  her  prayer-book 
from  her  pocket  and  began  to  read.  As  if  fearing 
to  seem  rude,  they  looked  away  and  quietly  ques 
tioned  their  mother  as  to  what  the  strange  employ 
ment  could  mean. 

While  thus  engaged,  Mrs.  Kinzie  was  startled  by 
a  sudden  "Hoh!"  when  the  mat  that  hung  over  the 
entrance  was  raised  and  an  Indian  entered.  He  was 
the  master  of  the  lodge,  and  had  been  out  to  shoot 
ducks.  Mrs.  Kinzie  tells  us  "he  was  tall,  finely 
formed,  with  a  genial,  open  countenance,  and  he 
listened  to  what  his  wife,  in  a  quiet  tone,  related  to 
him,  while  he  divested  himself  of  his  accouterments 
in  the  most  unembarrassed  manner  imaginable. 
The  narrative  continues:  "From  the  Indian  he  [Mr. 
Kinzie]  learned  that  we  were  in  what  was  called  the 
'Big  Woods,'  or  Tiche's  [Specie's]  Grove,'  from  a 
Frenchman  of  that  name  living  not  far  from  the 
spot;  that  the  river  we  had  crossed  was  the  Fox 
river,  and  that  he  could  guide  us  to  Piche's,  from 
which  the  road  was  perfectly  plain,  or  even  to  Chi 
cago,  if  we  preferred;  but  that  we  had  better  remain 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  339 

encamped  for  the  day,  as  there  was  a  storm  coming 
on;  and  in  the  meantime  he  would  go  and  shoot 
some  ducks  for  our  dinner  and  supper.  He  was 
accordingly  furnished  with  powder  and  shot,  and  set 
off  for  game  without  delay." 

The  home'  comforts  found  in  the  cabin  were  no 
doubt  sufficient  to  Mrs.  Kinzie  for  a  time,  and  she 
amused  herself  by  taking  from  her  pocket  a  roll  of 
red  ribbon,  and  presenting  a  piece  to  each  of  the 
little  girls.  With  it  they  were  delighted,  and 
the  mother~divided  it  and  tied  a  piece  to  each  of  the 
little  clubs  into  which  the  hair  was  knotted  on  the 
temples.  This  pleased  them  much,  and  their 
mother  joined  them  in  their  mirth. 

The  storm  came,  and  such  a  night  in  Maramech 
was  experienced  as  I  myself  have  often  known;  and 
I  seem  to  renew  the  experiences  of  my  boyhood 
when  I  read  Mrs.  Kinzie's  description  of  that  win 
ter's  night  in  the  woods: 

"The  storm  was  raging  without.  The  trees  were 
bending  and  cracking  around  us,  and  the  air  was 
completely  filled  with  the  wild-fowl  screaming  and 
quacking  as  they  made  their  way  southward  before 
the  blast.  Our  tent  was  among  the  trees  not  far 
from  the  river.  My  husband  took  me  to  the  bank 
to  look  for  a  moment  at  what  we  had  escaped.  The 
wind  was  sweeping  down  from  the  north  in  a  perfect 
hurricane.  The  water  was  filled  with  masses  of 
snow  and  ice,  dancing  along  upon  the  torrent,  over 
which  were  hurrying  thousands  of  wild-fowl,  ma 
king  the  woods  resound  withiheir  deafening  clamor. 

"Had  we  been  one  hour  later,  we  could  not  pos 
sibly  have  crossed  the  stream,  and  there  would  have 


340  LOST   MARAMECH 

been  nothing  for  us  but  to  have  remained  and 
starved  in  the  wilderness.  Could  we  be  sufficiently 
grateful  to  that  kind  Providence  that  had  brought 
us  safely  through  such  dangers? 

"The  men  had  cut  down  an  immense  tree,  and 
built  a  fire  against  it,  but  the  wind  shifted  so  con 
tinually  that  every  five  minutes  the  tent  would 
become  completely  filled  with  smoke,  so  that  I  was 
driven  into  the  open  air  for  breath.  Then  I  would 
seat  myself  on  one  end  of  the  huge  log,  as  near  the 
fire  as  possible,  for  it  was  dismally  cold;  but  the 
wind  seemed  actuated  by  a  kind  of  caprice,  for  in 
whatever  direction  I  took  my  seat,  just  that  way 
came  the  smoke  and  hot  ashes,  puffing  in  my  face 
until  I  was  nearly  blinded.  Neither  veil  nor  silk 
handkerchief  afforded  an  effectual  protection,  and  I 
was  glad  when  the  arrival  of  our  huntsman,  with  a 
quantity  of  ducks,  gave  me  an  opportunity  of 
diverting  my  thoughts  from  my  own  sufferings,  by 
aiding  the  men  to  pick  them  and  get  them  ready  for 
our  meal. 

"We  borrowed  a  kettle  from  our  Indian  friends. 
It  was  not  remarkably  clean;  but  we  heated  a  little 
water  in  it,  and  prairie-hay'd  it  out,  before  consign 
ing  our  birds  to  it,  and  with  a  bowl  of  Indian  pota 
toes,  a  present  from  our  kind  neighbors,  we  soon 
had  an  excellent  soup. 

"What  with  the  cold,  the  smoke,  and  the  driving 
ashes  and  cinders,  this  was  the  most  uncomfortable 
afternoon  I  had  yet  passed,  and  I  was  glad  when 
night  came  and  I  could  creep  into  the  tent  and 
cover  myself  up  in  the  blankets,  out  of  the  way  of 
all  three  of  these  evils. 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  341 

"The  storm  raged  with  ten-fold  violence  during 
the  night.  We  were  continually  startled  by  the 
crashing  of  the  falling  trees  around  us,  and  who 
could  tell  but  that  the  next  would  be  upon  us? 
Spite  of  our  fatigue,  we  passed  an  almost  sleepless 
night.  When  we  arose  in  the  morning,  we  were 
made  fully  alive  to  the  perils  by  which  we  had  been 
surrounded.  At  least  fifty  trees,  the  giants  of  the 
forest,  lay  prostrate  within  view  of  the  tent. 

"When  we  had  taken  our  scanty  breakfast,  and 
were  mounted  and  ready  for  departure,  it  was  with 
difficulty  we  could  thread  our  way, 'so  completely 
was  it  obstructed  by  the  fallen  trunks. 

"Our  Indian  guide  had  joined  us  at  an  early  hour, 
and  after  conducting  us  carefully  out  of  the  wood, 
and  pointing  out  to  us  numerous  bee-trees,*  for 
which  he  said  that  grove  was  famous,  he  set  off  at  a 
long  trot,  and  about  nine  o'clock  brought  us  to 
Piche's,  a  log  cabin  on  a  rising  ground,  looking  off 
over  the  broad  prairie  to  the  east.  We  had  hoped 
to  get  some  refreshment  here,  Piche  being  an  old 
acquaintance  of  some  of  the  party,  but,  alas!  the 
master  was  from  home.  We  found  his  cabin  occu 
pied  by  Indians  and  travelers — the  latter  few,  the 
former  numerous." 

The  point  of  wood  now  laid  down  as  Piche's 
Grove  is  but  a  continuation  of  the  heavy  timber 
that  lines  the  southern  bank  of  the  Fox  river,  and  is 
less  than  five  miles  from  the  site  of  the  ancient  town 
where  I  have  placed  the  hut  of  this  lone  Indian  and 

*  The  honey-bee  is  not  known  in  the  perfectly  wild  countries 
of  North  America.  It  is  ever  the  pioneer  of  civilization,  and 
the  Indians  call  it  "the  white  man's  bird." 


342  LOST   MARAMECH 

his  family.  The  fact  that  they  started  early  and 
reached  Specie's  Grove  by  nine  o'clock  shows  that 
they  were  probably  as  much  as  five  miles  west 
therefrom,  which  would  place  them  at  Sylvan 
Spring.  Following  the  Sac  Trail  for  a  little  dis 
tance,  they  reached  a  cross-trail  that,  at  that  time, 
paralleled  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Fox  river  from 
Ottawa  half  way  to  Chicago. 

The  "Big  Woods"  were  anywhere  along  Fox 
river,  near  Batavia,  near  Aurora,  and,  in  fact,  any 
where  where  tall  timber  was  to  be  found. 


The  Chief's  Wigwam.   Tama  Reservation. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

At  the  Tama  reservation,  sitting  by  the  fire  in  the 
middle  of  the  rush-mat-covered  lodge  of  Chief  Pu- 
ci-to-nig-wa,  with  his  counsellors  and  interpreters,  I 
found  around  me  much  of  what  we  are  so  often  told 
in  narratives  of  travelers  through  the  west  more 
than  two  hundred  years  ago.  The  domicile  of  the 
chief  shows  no  change;  it  is  precisely  like  those 
described  by  Alouez,  Perrot,  and  others.  Rattles 
consisting  of  gourds  filled  with  pebbles  serve,  now 
as  then,  at  the  ceremonial  dances.  Nothing  mod 
ern  is  seen  except  an  occasional  trunk  or  basket 
around  the  walls  of  the  cabin,  mingled  with  those 
home-made,  of  leather,  with  thongs  for  locks. 
Mats  serve  as  beds,  some  raised  and  some  upon  the 
floor  of  well-beaten  earth.  The  blankets  are  of  the 
kind  first  given  in  exchange  by  the  early  traders. 
At  the  middle  of  the  cabin  a  space  is  left  for  the 
fire.  Over  its  embers  hangs  a  chain,  upon  which 
the  kettle  is  suspended.  Rush  mats,  neatly  sewn 
and  supported  upon  a  bee-hive-like  structure  of 
poles,  serve  well  to  protect  from  the  storms  of  sum 
mer  and  the  blasts  of  winter.  A  hole  at  the  summit 
permits  a  large  part  of  the  smoke  to  escape,  but 
some  remains  and  tortures  the  eyes.  The  wrinkled 
faces  of  the  aged  ones  show  exposure  to  the  sun  of 
summer  and  smoke  of  winter.  The  lack  of  neatness 
indicates  no  advance  in  hygienic  knowledge — there 
are  almost  no  signs  of  advancement.  The  love  for 

343 


344 


LOST    MARAMECH 


ornaments  is  shown  by  beads  which  hang  from  ears 
and  neck,  and  that  are  sewn  upon  the  moccasins, 
upon  the  skirts  of  the  women  and  upon  the  belts 
worn  by  the  men. 

About  three  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  people  yet 
remain.  They  till  the  soil  for  corn  as  they  tilled  it 
when  first  met  by  the  traders.  Their  foods  are 
the  same  as  then.  Although  mills  are  near,  the 
corn  is  ground  by  pounding  in  a  wooden  mortar. 
Maple  sugar  of  their  own  make  is  their  greatest 
luxury.  They  repel  the  spirit  of  progress.  Their 
conservatism  will  be  their  death.  The  fate  that 
must  overtake  the  native  tribes  may  prove  a  kindness 
to  them;  yet  how  sad,  and  to  us  how  keen  the  sting 
of  conscience. 

I  told  those  around  the  fire  with  me  the  story  of 
the  destruction  of  the  several  branches  of  the  Fox 
tribe,  at  Detroit,  at  the  river  in  Wisconsin  that  now 
bears  their  name,  and  at  the  fatal  hill  where  a  mass 
ive  boulder  marks  the  place  of  starvation  and  tor 
ture. 

The  Fox  tribe  has  adopted  for  its  use  a  writing 
consisting  of  English  script  letters,  with  some  modi 
fications  and  additions.  An  example  of  this  script 
is  furnished  me  by  a  descendant  of  the  tribe,  Mr. 
William  Jones,  educated  at  Harvard  and  now  con 
nected  with  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  His 
tory  of  the  City  of  New  York.  It  is  a  translation 
into  the  Fox  language  of  the  inscription  on  the 
stone  recently  placed  on  Maramech  Hill.  As  will  be 
seen  by  the  interlineations,  retranslations  into  Eng 
lish,  the  Fox  method  of  translation  differs  greatly 
from  ours. 


THE  INSCRIPTION  ON  THE  BOULDER  TRANSLATED  INTO  THE  Fox 

LANGUAGE  AND  SHOWN  IN  THE  Fox  SCRIPT,  WITH 

RETRANSLATION  INTO  ENGLISH. 


Here  this  at  the  stockade 

I   ^  ^c    4e   &    t^K^  cc/c*  fa  . 

is      the    place    where   they        were  besieged  the 


Red-Earths.  Three  hundred  they  num- 

.     >^-L€   °^C^<     ^4.      "H  U    £o    5-c\    c<.   A>c*. 

bered,                   Red-Earth  warriors, 

o  6</<:  use*,  OL/^  V  .    >ic<  ftc±.    -o 

their  wives  and  also  their 


£  .         -c      c^  £   .    cc  c</>c    ^i<  Us  c< 

children  there  were 


X    w*  -t^.  cc  x  x 

at  the  time.  These  French 


and  other 

u/  a.  fii*  -     i^~t  f^ 

Pe°Ple  thirteen  hundred 


4. 

they  numbered 


when  they  besieged  them  the  Red-Earths\ 

0     Aug.  17,  1730  was  the  time  the 

siege  began  here.  then  Sept.  8  was 

when  they  escaped  the  Ked-Earths  when 


they  were  captured  when  they  were  tortured 


o.         o  6t/  ^         :      y: 
when  they  were  slain. 


-t 

French  trenches  were 


on  ttufhill  whence  the  cold. 

x      i4*4c^cL      <<  to   t«+,^<^.^  .  c< 

Ferland  tells  aoout  it,  rock, 


in  a  book,  History  of  Canada 

ktLuZi-iL+  .    ^«t^  n  &^ 

it  is  called,  two    .                   miles 

£  Us<.  dec  £e  ^    .     cc  & 

whence  the  heat  it  is 

w  .        df-IAs  I  -HC«       C<    >r 

that  rock,                                but  partly 


<.    o 
hauled  away  it  is.  Near  it  is 


Maramech,  for  such  was  the  name  of  it 

ti 


town'  I684  he  told  of  it  Franque 

-c  vu'  7^  .    0  .44  6<XL  'vCi'         &  Kf  u 

lin  town;  map 


in  a  book 
NOTE.—  Dots  separate  words.    Crosses  separate  sentences. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  345 

Upon  the  ribbed  framework  of  the  lodge  of  Chief 
Pu-ci-to-nig-wa  hung  the  medicine-bags  of  the  chief 
and  those  of  the  adult  male  members  of  his  family. 
Of  smoke-browned  leather  and  old,  they  seemed 
much  like  the  skin  of  a  mummy.  Each,  to  its  pos 
sessor,  was  priceless.  Each  contained  the  mascot 
of  a  brave, — an  eagle's  claw,  perhaps,  a  stone,  a 
shell,  and  what  not.  The  mascot  was  whatever  the 
possessor  had  dreamed  of  in  youth,  when  fasting  in 
order  that  he  might  dream  and  thus  hold  commu 
nion  with  the  Great  Spirit;  a  memento  of  what  he 
first  dreamed — that  is  what  he  held  precious. 

More  than  this,  the  medicine-bags  contained  the 
mementoes  of  generations,  and  each  thing  contained 
was  a  reminder  of  some  event  long  almost  forgotten. 

When  I  had  read  from  rusty  French  volumes, 
printed  before  his  great-grandfather  was  born,  the 
sad  stories  that  their  traditions  but  echo,  the  chief 
said  to  his  counsellors:  "How  like  the  red  man's 
medicine-bag!  The  rusty  leather-covered  book 
seems  to  be  so  full  of  sacred  memories." 

I  have  since  listened  to  their  traditions,  mixtures 
of  fact,  fiction,  and  fable,  of  victories  and  defeats, 
and  of  their  almost  total  destruction,  but  gather 
nothing  fully  corroborative  of  any  one  event  men 
tioned  in  the  French  records.  In  my  efforts  to  get 
the  story  of  their  last  great  struggle,  I  found  but  one 
which  to  any  extent  seems  to  have  any  possible 
reference  to  any  part  of  the  affair  on  Maramech 
Hill. 

"Once  upon  a  time,"  it  runs,  "when  the  Foxes 
were  living  north  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  a  child 
was  born  and  they  named  him  Wa-pa-sai-ya,  the 


346  LOST   MARAMECH 

name  meaning  'the  white  buckskin.'  He  was  rest 
less,  as  a  child,  and  as  a  youth  quarrelsome.  He 
delighted  in  torturing  his  comrades,  but  because  of 
his  marked  abilities  was  a  leader  among  them. 
When  he  became  a  man  and  people  from  other 
tribes  came  to  visit  his  village,  he  would  often  say, 
'The  dogs  will  have  something  to  eat  to-day.'  He 
would  tell  those  who  were  entertaining  the  visitors 
to  feed  them  well  and  later  have  them  brought  to 
him.  Some  he  would  kill,  and  would  let  others  go 
home  with  fingers,  nose,  and  ears  cut  off.  By  and 
by  his  people  said,  among  themselves,  that  such 
things  must  stop.  It  is  wrong  so  to  treat  our  friends 
from  other  tribes,  and,  besides,  we  do  not  know  but 
they  will  come  upon  us  in  retaliation.  So  some  of 
the  principal  men  went  to  Wa-pa-sai-ya  and  said  to 
him:  'We  want  you  to  be  our  chief,'  and  he  replied: 
'Just  one  more  time  will  I  treat  those  people  that 
same  old  way.'  At  the  time  this  was  going  on  there 
were  war  parties  setting  out,  and  he  often  accom 
panied  them,  even  though  they  did  not  wish  him  to; 
and  when  they  would  again  ask  him  not  to  go  out  he 
would  reply  as  before,  'Just  one  more  time;  I  will  go 
out  on  just  one  more  war  raid.'*  It  soon  resulted 
that  the  neighboring  tribes  became  much  angered 
because  of  the  treatment  received  from  the  White 
Buckskin.  Among  the  people  who  suffered  most 
were  the  French  soldiers.  The  Frenchmen  came 
and  gave  arms  to  the  surrounding  nations,  and  by 

*  With  the  Fox  tribe  the  chief  must  be  a  man  of  peace,  and 
these  people  offering  the  chieftainship  did  so  in  order  that,  by 
the  laws  of  the  tribe,  he,  as  chief,  would  be  compelled  to  cease 
his  aggressions. 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  347 

and  by  the  French  soldiers  came  against  the  Foxes. 
Before  the  fighting  began  the  French  held  a  parley 
with  Wa-pa-sai-ya  and  wanted  him  to  stop  all  his 
cruelties  and  agree  to  several  things,  such  as  keep 
ing  peace  with  other  tribes;  but  he  would  not  con 
sent  to  anything. 

"The  efforts  of  the  French  officers  resulted  only 
in  making  him  defiant.  He  bade  them  come  in  any 
numbers,  but  failed  to  make  them  fully  understand 
the  contempt  he  felt  for  their  soldiers  and  their 
methods  of  warfare.  To  make  them  know  his 
defiant  attitude  which  words,  through  the  inter 
preter,  had  failed  to  express,  he  stuck  a  number  of 
sticks  in  the  ground,  in  a  row,  to  represent  the  num 
ber  of  warriors  he  was  willing  to  pit  against  the 
French,  and  then  placed  many  times  more  sticks, 
opposite  the  first,  to  represent  the  number  of 
Frenchmen  his  few  chosen  warriors  were  willing  to 
battle  with;  but  the  officers  refused  to  accept  his 
challenge  and  only  said:  'We  will  attack  you,'  and 
Wa-pa-sai-ya  replied :\  'Go  ahead  when  you  want 
to/  The  French  retired  to  their  camp  and,  after 
consultation,  advanced  against  the  Foxes  in  great 
numbers.  The  Foxes  saw  them  coming  from  a  long 
way  off  and  made  an  ambush  and  defeated  the 
French  and  drove  them  back.  Wa-pa-sai-ya  killed 
the  prisoners  he  had  taken,  all  but  one,  to  whom  he 
said:  'Go  back  to  your  people  and  tell  them  to  come 
in  greater  numbers  than  before,  when  they  again 
want  to  come  against  me.  You  will  live  to  deliver 
this  message  and  then  die.'  The  Frenchman  went 
back  and  did  as  he  had  been  told,  and,  sure  enough, 
then  died.  The  French  did  come  in  greater  num- 


348  LOST   MARAMECH 

bers,  and  were  again  defeated  by  the  Foxes.  The 
French,  then  fearing  that  they  could  make  no  more 
headway  against  the  Foxes,  got  all  of  their  friends, 
the  warriors  of  the  other  tribes,  to  help  them;  they 
came  from  every  direction,  from  all  the  nations,  and 
fought  the  Foxes.  By  and  by  they  crowded  the 
Foxes  into  their  defenses  and  surrounded  them. 
Soon  after  Wa-pa-sai-ya  became  tired  of  fighting 
and  broke  his  own  bow  and  those  his  friends  gave 
him.  Then  his  people  said  to  him:  'What  is  the 
matter  with  you?  Why  do  you  stop  fighting?  You 
should  remember  that  you  are  the  one  who  brought 
all  this  trouble  upon  us.  We  told  you  it  was  not 
right  to  mistreat  guests,  and  that  you  might  have  to 
suffer  for  all  this,  but  you  would  not  listen  to  us; 
now,  in  the  midst  of  this  war,  you  want  to  stop 
fighting  when  we  need  you  most';  but  he  would  not 
listen.  Now,  with  the  enemy,  was  a  Mascoutin,  and 
this  Mascoutin  had  a  son,  and  this  son  had  a  dream 
one  night.  He  told  the  dream  to  his  father,  saying: 
'I  dreamed  that  I  captured  Wa-pa-sai-ya.'  'Well, 
is  that  so?'  said  the  father.  Then  he  went  and  got  a 
drum  and  told  his  son  to  strike  it.  When  this  was 
done  the  father  said:  'Draw  a  picture  of  Wa-pa- 
sai-ya  on  the  drum-head  and  strike  it.'  The  son  hit 
the  drum  as  he  was  told.  He  was  bidden  to  hit  it 
again,  and  the  head  burst.  'It  is  true,'  said  the 
father,  'the  dream  will  come  true;  that  test  has 
proved  it.'  Then  the  son  joined  the  other  warriors. 
By  and  by  he  returned  and  brought  Wa-pa-sai-ya 
with  him  as  a  prisoner,  and  tied  him  to  a  tree.  The 
father  went  out  to  see  what  all  of  the  noise  was 
about.  He  saw  Wa-pa-sai-ya  tied  to  the  tree  and 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 


349 


mistook  him  for  his  son,  as  the  son  and  Wa-pa-sai-ya 
looked  much  alike;  and  so  the  father  had  the 
prisoner  set  free  and  took  him  up  to  his  lodge  and 
there  fed  him.  When  Wa-pa-sai-ya  had  eaten,  the 
father  gave  him  two  wives;  but  after  a  while  the 
father  learned  that  it  was  Wa-pa-sai-ya,  and  had  him 
tied  to  the  tree  again.  While  they  were  preparing 
to  bind  him  the  people  asked  him,  'Who  was  it  that 
killed  our  chief,  and  when?'  He  replied,  'It  was 
one  of  my  friends,  in  the  last  big  fight  we  had,  and 
as  he  hit  your  chief  on  the  head  it  was  like  hitting  a 
dog  on  the  head  and  making  him  howl.'  Then  they 
tied  Wa-pa-sai-ya  to  the  tree  again.  The  Mascoutin 
said  to  him:  'Are  you  hungry,  Wa-pa-sai-ya?'  And 
the  victim  said  he  was.  At  that  the  Mascoutin  cut 
a  slice  from  the  thigh  of  Wa-pa-sai-ya,  cooked  it  on 
the  coals  of  the  fire  and  gave  it  to  him  to  eat. 
When  he  had  finished  eating  it  the  Mascoutin  again 
said:  'Are  you  still  hungry,  Wa-pa-sai-ya?'  'Yes, 
of  course  I  am,'  said  the  victim.  Then  the  Mas 
coutin  cut  a  slice  from  the  calf  of  Wa-pa-sai-ya's 
leg,  cooked  it  and  gave  it  to  Wa-pa-sai-ya,  and  he 
ate  it.  They  repeated  the  cutting  out  of  slices, 
cooking  them  and  feeding  him  until  the  flesh  was 
all  gone  and  only  the  bones  remained,  hanging 
together,  tied  to  the  tree.  Then  fire  was  placed 
under  the  bones,  and  thereupon  the  Mascoutin  chief 
came  up  and,  as  the  fire  was  kindled,  said  to  the 
bones  of  Wa-pa-sai-ya:  'Now,  Wa-pa-sai-ya,  you 
shall  burn,  and  at  some  future  time  your  town  and 
people  shall  burn.'  When  this  was  said  the  tree  to 
which  the  victim's  bones  were  tied  turned  round  in 
its  place,  as  a  sign,  but  the  bones  remained  un- 


350  LOST   MARAMECH 

moved.  While  the  tree  was  turning,  a  voice  came 
from  the  bones  saying,  'I  shall  burn,  and  your  town 
shall  burn.'  Some  one  pushed  the  Mascoutin  chief 
and  he  almost  fell  into  the  fire,  and  see-med  restrained 
there  as  by  some  mysterious  force;  help  was  needed 
to  put  him  on  his  feet  again — he  almost  died  there. 

"A  little  while  afterward  the  Foxes  fell  upon  the 
Mascoutins,  killed  nearly  all  and  burned  the  town, 
and  that  is  why  there  are  so  few  Mascoutins  to-day.* 

"Thus  was  the  prophecy  fulfilled,  and  thus  the 
people  were  made  to  know  that  Wa-pa-sai-ya  was 
supernatural;  being  a  Manitou,  he  passed  above, 
and  the  bright  star  in  the  great  white  river  overhead 
is  he. 

"Soon  after  this  the  nations  again  came  and 
united  against  the  Foxes,  and  the  fighting  became 
hard  and  incessant.  Then  the  old  men  said  to  the 
young  men:  'Let  us  old  men  go  out  and  do  the 
fighting;  we  have  not  long  to  live  and  we  can  well 
spare  the  rest  of  our  time  wearing  the  enemy  out; 
let  them  waste  part  of  their  strength  on  us.  You 
stay  here  and  take  care  of  the  women  and  children 
and  fight  when  it  comes  your  turn,  and  that  will  be 
when  all  the  old  men  are  killed  off.'  Every  time 
the  old  men  withdrew  they  returned  fewer  in  num 
bers,  and  at  last  all  were  killed.  Then  the  fighting 
fell  upon  the  young  men.  It  was  about  the  time 
when  the  corn  was  ripening  in  the  fields.  Among 
the  Foxes  was  a  young  man  who  fasted  and  dreamed, 
and  he  dreamed  that  he  was  blest  by  the  Great 

*  This  part  of  the  tradition  may  be  considered  as  a  sugges 
tion  that  the  lost  tribe  of  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  prairies 
was  destroyed,  or  at  least  depleted,  by  the  Foxes. 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO 

Spirit,  and  he  said  to  the  people:  'I  am  going  to 
make  the  enemy  sleep,'  and  so  saying  he  sang  and 
beat  upon  a  drum.  At  once  the  weather  grew  cold 
and  snow  began  to  fall.  The  enemy  went  into  their 
tents  and  slept  soundly,  and  out  of  the  stockade 
went  the  Foxes.  They  went  in  two  directions,  one 
part  to  the  north  and  the  other  to  the  east.  Those 
who  went  to  the  east  were  women  and  children, 
with  a  force  of  young  men  to  protect  them.  They 
followed  a  young  man  who  drew  a  strip  of  rawhide 
behind  him  to  make  a  trail  for  them  to  follow. 
When  they  came  to  a  high  place  they  built  a  fort. 

"The  party  that  passed  to  the  north  was  made  up  of 
a  force  of  young  men  who  made  a  big,  broad  trail 
in  the  snow  in  order  to  draw  the  enemy  after  them 
and  thus  keep  the  women  and  children  out  of  dan 
ger  and  give  them  time  to  build  a  fort.  As  was 
expected,  the  large  trail  was  discovered  and  alarm 
raised  in  the  camp  of  the  enemy.  'They  are  flee 
ing!  They  are  fleeing!'  they  shouted,  and  came  upon 
the  Fox  warriors  in  full  force.  The  Foxes  held 
them  back  until  they  thought  the  women  had  had 
time  to  build  another  fort,  and  then  gave  way  and 
joined  their  friends  in  the  new  stockade.  Then  the 
enemy  came  again,  and  were  beaten  back.  The 
Foxes  scattered,  and  the  small  parties  were  pursued 
by  the  enemy.  Most  were  captured,  but  many 
escaped." 

In  this  mixture  of  myths  and  facts  only  a  few 
points  of  similarity  with  the  accounts  left  by  the 
French  can  be  found.  We  learn  that  most  of  the 
neighboring  tribes  were  against  the  Foxes.  The 
Foxes  were  in  a  stockaded  defense  when  last 


352  LOST   MARAMECH 

attacked.  They  held  parleys  with  the  French. 
"It  was  about  the  time  the  corn  was  ripening  in  the 
fields."  It  became  very  cold.  The  Foxes  escaped 
in  the  night,  in  two  parties,  and  went  in  two  direc 
tions,  one  to  the  north,  the  tradition  says  (but,  as 
previously  stated,  I  believe  the  direction  to  have 
been  northeast)  and  were  overtaken  upon  the  hill  a 
mile  away,  where  so  many  arrow-heads  marked  the 
place  of  some  great  event.  "Most  were  captured, 
but  many  escaped."  The  French  accounts  say  that 
those  who  escaped  were  a  few  old  women,  and  they 
without  supplies. 

Only  the  traditions,  nourished  by  the  remaining 
Foxes,  tell  them  of  the  wanderings  of  their  ances 
tors  after  the  disastrous  siege  of  1730.  Notwith 
standing  the  frequent  returns  by  the  hunting  parties 
to  the  hunting-grounds,  the  place  of  defeat  became 
lost  to  them.  When  the  great  Sac  warrior,  Black 
Hawk,  chief  by  common  approval,  but  not  by  elec 
tion,  strove  to  repossess  the  hunting-grounds  and 
fields,  having  Saukenuk  as  their  center,  a  few  Foxes 
joined  the  Sacs  and  Pottawatomies  against  the 
whites. 

Leaving  the  stormy  council  held  on  the  Sycamore 
creek,  Shaubena  and  Waubansie,  friends  of  the 
whites,  sought  their  respective  villages.  They  had 
not  succeeded  in  convincing  Black  Hawk  of  the 
hopelessness  of  his  undertaking.  He  had  refused 
to  recross  the  Mississippi  to  the  new  grounds 
allotted  to  his  tribe.  Shaubena  had  not  succeeded 
in  holding  all  of  the  young  warriors  of  his  tribe  in 
check,  and  was  spurred  by  his  humane  sentiments  to 
warn  all  the  settlers  within  his  reach  of  the  coming 


AND   EARLIEST   CHICAGO  353 

storm.  Arriving  at  his  village,  on  his  reservation, 
he  sent  his  son,  Pypogee,  and  also  his  nephew, 
Pyps,  to  give  warning  to  the  whites  who,  like  the 
Miamis,  a  century  and  a  half  before,  had  chosen  for 
their  home  the  five  prairies  that  radiate  from  the 
site  of  ancient  Maramech.  Down  the  Kishwaukee 
Trail,  over  Maramech  Hill,  where  a  scar  of  the  trail 
still  remains,  and  onward  over  the  ford  where  the 
east-and-west  ancient  trail,  mapped  in  in  1680, 
crosses,  with  panting  steeds  they  sped  on  their  errand 
of  mercy.  A  detachment  of  Black  Hawk's  band 
arrived  only  to  find  themselves  too  late.  The 
whites  had  fled,  and  the  disappointed  warriors 
vowed  vengeance  on  Shaubena.  But  for  the  warn 
ing,  a  score  of  settlers  would  have  been  slain,  some 
within  hearing  of  a  rifle-shot  from  the  ancient  fort 
upon  the  hill.  But  a  dozen  miles  away  a  half  score 
or  more,  who  had  scoffed  at  the  warning,  met 
death. 

So  closed  the  last  scene  in  the  tragedy  of  savage 
life.  The  curtain  dropped  to  again  be  raised  only 
for  the  drama  of  civilized  life. 

In  the  middle  fifties  an  aged  Indian,  straight  as 
an  arrow,  with  a  one-horse  wagon  and  squaw  of 
width  to  almost  fill  it  when  seated,  crept  northward 
over  the  road  that,  when  a  mere  trail,  had  been 
traveled  by  the  French  in  going  by  land  from  Fort 
St.  Louis  to  Chicago.  He  turned  therefrom  to  fol 
low  up  the  "Little  River,"  as  called  in  the  early 
military  reports.  This  last  representative  of  our 
local  tribes  was  Shaubena  with  his  squaw.  The 
road  cleft  in  the  side  of  the  hill  that  skirts  the 
stream  had  not  yet  been  made.  The  old  trail  over 


354  LOST   MARAMECH 

the  hill,  not  prepared  for  wheeled  vehicles,  so  wound 
among  the  trees  and  dropped  so  abruptly  to  the 
north  that  he  was  forced  to  take  a  newer  road,  made 
by  the  whites.  Hence  it  was  only  across  the  swamp 
that  he  saw  the  hill  so  fatal  to  the  Foxes.  He 
passed  within  a  stonethrow  of  the  site  of  De  Villiers' 
little  fort  and  onward  to  the  new  village  of  Piano, 
where  he  exchanged  furs  for  necessities.  For  a 
time  he  camped  near  the  head  of  the  cool  stream 
that,  miles  below,  bathes  the  foot  of  Maramech  Hill. 
Since  then  the  eyes  of  no  red  man  have  rested 
upon  the  scene  of  alternate  storm  and  calm. 


Shaubena,   a  Pottawattomy  Chief. 
A  friend  to  the  whites. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

CHICAGO 

The  question  as  to  the  origin  of  the  name  of  our 
great  city  of  the  west  has  often  been  raised,  but 
never  in  a  manner  so  novel  as  by  the  author  of 
Reminiscences  of  Early  Chicago^  in  whose  interest 
ing  book  we  find  what  purports  to  be  an  extract 
from  a  letter  written  by  La  Salle  to  a  friend  in 
France:  "Were  I  to  give  this  place  a  name,  I  would 
derive  it  from  the  nature  of  the  place  and  the  nature 
of  the  man  who  will  occupy  this  place:  ago,  I  act; 
circum,  all  around — Circago."  I  do  not  find  any 
thing  like  this  in  any  of  the  writings  of  La  Salle, 
and  believe  that  I  have  a  copy  of  every  scratch  of 
La  Salle's  pen  that  did  not  perish  with  him.  If  he 
ever  did  propose  the  name,  he  did  not  use  it,  for  we 
find  him  using  the  name  given  to  the  stream  by  the 
Algonquin  tribes,  the  meaning  of  which  is  stated  by 
Cadillac,  an  officer  in  command  at  Mackinaw  and 
other  places,  who  wrote  in  1695  or  perhaps  a  little 
later:  "The  post  of  Chigagou  comes  next  [in  going 
westward].  The  word  signifies  'the  river  of  the 
onion,'  because  it  [the  onion]  is  there  produced 
naturally  without  any  care,  in  great  quantities." 

Knowing  what  he  is  seeking  one  may,  in  early 
harvest  time,  see  the  prairies  about  the  Chicago  and 
Des  Plaines  rivers  given  a  pale  pink  hue  by  the 
blossom  of  the  plant  that  gave  the  river  its  name, 
which  name  was  often  also  applied  to  the  Des 

355 


356  LOST   MARAMECH 

Plaincs.  In  the  Fox  dialect  of  the  Algonquin  lan 
guage,  the  skunk  is  known  by  a  name  very  similar, 
the  difference  being  but  slight.  It  is  not  strange 
that  the  animal  and  plant  received  names  one  so  like 
the  other,  for  it  was  an  Indian  custom  to  give  names 
that  accorded  with  the  characteristics  of  the  object. 
Whether  the  word  originally  meant  merely  a  bad 
smell,  or  a  skunk,  or  an  onion,  does  not  matter,  for 
if  either,  all  is  clear.  Low,  flat,  and  wet  prairies  do 
not  produce  skunks,  but  do  breed  crawfishes  and 
wild  onions,  and  the  river  now  rendered  nauseous 
by  the  sewage  of  a  great  city,  was  then  a  clear 
stream  and  not  deserving  a  name  indicating  an  odor 
not  pleasant. 

Allouez,  1680  (Margry,  II.,  95),  uses  descriptive 
words  when  speaking  of  the  region:  "The  prairies 
.  .  .  being  wet  all  the  time." 

La  Salle,  late  in  1681,  wrote:  "And  all  my  people 
who,  having  marched  three  days  along  the  lake  and 
gained  the  portage  called  Chicagou,  were  waiting," 
etc.,  and  in  the  letter  repeats  the  name  twelve 
times.  In  the  same  letter  he  says:  "The  land  there 
produces  naturally  a  quantity  of  roots  good  to  eat, 
as  wild  ognons  [onions],"  and  he  also  refers  to  the 
garlic. 

Father  Membre  wrote  of  Chicagou  in  1683. 
(Margry,  II.,  206.) 

La  Salle  wrote  a  letter  to  La  Barre,  then  Governor 
of  Canada,  beginning:  " ' Du  portage  de  Chicagou,  4 
Juin,  1683"  (Margry,  II.,  317.) 

Le  Clercq  (First  Establishment  of  the  Faith,  Shea's 
translation,  II.,  162)  says:  "On  the  2ist  of  Decem 
ber  I  embarked  with  Sieur  de  Tonty  and  a  part 


AND    EARLIEST    CHICAGO  357 

of  our  people  on  Lake  Dauphin  [Michigan],  to 
go  to  the  divine  river,  called  by  the  Indians  Che- 
cagou,  in  order  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements 
for  our  voyage.  The  Sieur  de  La  Salle  joined  us 
there  with  the  rest  of  the  troop  on  the  4th  of  Jan 
uary,  1682." 

Tonty,  in  his  memoir  (Historical  Collections  of 
Louisiana,  I.,  65),  says:  "We  arrived  about  the  end 
of  June,  1682,  at  the  river  Chicagou." 

Tonty,  in  his  Relation  dated  November  14,  1684 
(Margry,  II.,  251),  says:  "After  we  had  drawn  our 
equipage  seventy  leagues,  namely,  twenty,  on  the 
river  of  Chicago  [Des  Plaines],"  etc.  (The  date 
given  is  1683,  evidently  a  slip  of  the  pen.) 

Late  in  1687  Joutel  anc^  others  "arrived  at  Chi 
cagou  on  the  29th  of  March,"  from  La  Salle's  ill- 
fated  settlement  in  Texas. 

La  Salle  wrote  in  1680  (Margry,  II.,  82):  "It  was 
therefore  necessary,  at  the  end  of  the  lake,  where 
navigation  is  ended,  at  the  place  called  Chicagou, 
to  pack  close  the  things  that  they  had  brought  in 
the  boats,  and  transport  them  to  the  canoes  two 
leagues  from  there  [to  the  Des  Plaines  river]." 

Father  Gravier,  writing  in  1698,  says:  "'He,  as 
well  as  Father  Pinet,  at  Chicagwa,  will  do  them 
selves  the  pleasure  of  rendering  them  any  kind  of 
service."  (Jesuit  Relations,  LXV.,  61.)  Father 
Pinet's  mission  was  then  with  the  branch  of  the 
Miami  tribe  whose  village  presumably  it  was  that 
was  located  where  so  many  relics  have  been  found, 
on  the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago  river. 

We  learn  from  the  father  that  the  malarial  fevers 
("fever  and  ague"  of  our  own  early  times)  were 


358  LOST   MARAMECH 

contracted  by  the  people  of  the  prairies,  both 
natives  and  whites. 

The  natives  resorted  to  all  sorts  of  remedies  for 
diseases,  and  sometimes  attempted  to  propitiate  the 
god  or  the  demon  that  was  responsible  for  the  ill 
ness  of  a  comrade  by  sacrifices,  and  sometimes 
thought  to  interest  the  god  or  demon  by  playing 
some  of  their  most  interesting  games  for  his  bene 
fit,  for  instance,  the  game  of  ball.  Reports  have 
reached  us  that  those  efforts  were  eminently  suc 
cessful. 

The  efforts  later  made  by  the  early  fathers  seemed 
to  have  been  equally  successful.  The  following  is 
found  in  Father  Guignas'  account.  He  left  Chika- 
goua  (Chicago)  in  1700  for  New  Orleans,  and  wrote: 

"I  found  an  excellent  remedy  to  cure  our  French 
of  their  fevers.  I  promised  God  jointly  with  Peter 
de  Bonne,  who  had  a  violent  tertian  fever  for  a  con 
siderable  time,  to  recite  for  nine  days  prayers  in 
honor  of  Father  Francis  Regis,  whose  relics  I  have, 
which  I  applied  to  him  in  the  height  of  his  fever, 
when  it  ceased  suddenly,  and  he  had  no  more  of  it 
after  that  time.  After  my  novena  I  resumed  my 
reliquary,  which  I  hung  around  the  neck  of  Louis 
de  Hemme  of  Riviere  du  Loup,  with  whom  I  began 
a  second  novena,  and  from  the  first  day  the  fever  left 
him;  and  having  taken  off  my  reliquary  the  fourth 
or  fifth  day  of  the  novena  to  hang  it  on  the  neck  of 
one  by  name  Augustine  la  Pointe  of  Cote  St.  Michel 
in  Canada,  who  had  already  had  two  or  three  attacks 
of  fever,  it  took  De  Hemme  again,  who  feeling  him 
self  cured,  had  said  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  being 
sick  with  that  reliquary  always  hung  around  his 


AND    EARLIEST   CHICAGO  359 

neck,  and  as  soon  as  I  took  it  off  the  fever  came 
back  and  did  not  leave  him  till  after  the  novena, 
and  La  Pointe  was  cured  perfectly  from  the  first  day 
that  I  hung  my  reliquary  around  his  neck,  which  I 
did  not  remove  till  the  novena  was  completed.  And 
at  this  moment  Pierre  Chabot  of  Isle  Orleans,  who 
had  the  fever  for  more  than  six  months,  having  hung 
it  on  his  neck,  the  third  day  of  the  novena  that 
stubborn  fever  diminished  and  he  was  entirely  rid  of 
it  at  the  end  of  the  novena.  A  small  piece  of 
Father  Regis'  hat,  which  one  of  our  domestics  gave 
me,  is  the  most  infallible  remedy  that  I  can  have  to 
cure  all  kinds  of  fevers." 

Many,  since  the  death  of  Father  Guignas,  yet 
live  who  can  say  that  the  malarial  fevers  incident  to 
the  low  lands  around  both  ancient  and  modern  Chi 
cago  were  never  as  easily  cured  by  the  white  phy 
sician  and  his  remedies. 


Appendix 


PARIS    DOCUMENTS 

The  larger  part  of  the  following  documents  were  copied  for 
me  from  the  archives  of  the  Minister  of  Marine,  at  Paris,  by 
Prof.  Charles  M.  Andrist.  The  documents  are  reproduced 
verbatim  as  far  as  possible,  accompanied  by  translations.  It 
is  believed  that,  except  those  found  in  the  Wisconsin  His 
torical  Collection,  none  has  before  been  published. 

REPORTS 
Fox  Savages 

[Of  the  6th  of  May,  1630.] 

M.  le  Marq.  de  Beauharnois  a  marqu6  qu'un  party  de  200 
sauvages  surpis  20  cabannes  des  Renards  et  qu'il  avoit  este 
massacre  ou  brule  80  hommes  et  300  femmes  et  enfans,  ne 
s'etaint  sauve  que  trois  hommes.  Que  depuis  cette  aventure 
le  grand  chef  des  Renards  avoit  este  trouve  le  commandant 
francais  a  la  Riviere  St.  Joseph  pour  demander  misericorde  et 
qu'il  devoit  descendre  'pour  cela  a  Montreal  aimant  mieux 
courir  les  risques  d'estre  tue  en  chemin  que  dans  son  village. 

Que  1'entreprise  faite  centre  eux  en  1728  a  fait  tant  d'impres- 
sion  dans  1'esprit  des  autres  nations,  qu'elles  se  maintiendront 
dans  le  party  des  francais  et  continueront  la  guerre  contre  les 
Renards. 

TRANSLA  TION: 

Le  Marc  de  Beauharnois  has  noted  that  a  party  of  two  hun 
dred  savages  surprised  twenty  cabins  (tepees)  of  the  Foxes, 
and  that  there  has  been  massacred  or  burned  eighty  men  and 
three  hundred  women  and  children,  only  three  men  having  got 
ten  away.  That  since  that  adventure  the  Grand  Chief  of  the 
Foxes  had  been  to  see  the  French  Commandant  at  the  River 

361 


362  APPENDIX 

St.  Joseph  in  order  to  beg  for  mercy,  and  that  he  had  to 
descend  for  that  to  Montreal,  preferring  rather  to  run  the  risk 
of  being  killed  on  the  road  than  in  the  village.  That  the 
enterprise  undertaken  against  them  in  1728  had  made  such  an 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  other  nations  that  they  will 
now  keep  on  the  side  of  the  French  and  continue  the  war 
against  the  Foxes. 

[Of  the  25th  of  June,  1630.] 

Le  Dubuisson  commandant  a  Missilimakinic  luy  avoit  donne" 
avis  que  toutes  les  nations  des  pays  d'enhaut  estoient  si  fort 
animus  centre  les  Renards,  qu'un  corps  de  'sauvages  assez 
considerable  1'avoit  prie  de  se  mettre  a  leur  tete  pour  tomber 
sur  les  Renards;  qu'il  1'avoit  accepte  et  qu'il  estait  party  avec 
600  sauvages  et  20  francais. 

TRANSLA  TION: 

Le  Dubuisson,  Commandant  at  Missilimakinac,  had  advised 
him  that  all  the  nations  of  the  upper  country  were  so  embit 
tered  against  the  Foxes  that  quite  a  large  body  of  savages  had 
begged  him  to  place  himself  at  their  head  in  order  to  fall  upon 
the  Foxes ;  that  he  had  accepted,  and  that  he  had  departed 
with  six  hundred  savages  and  twenty  Frenchmen. 

[Of  the  i8th  of  October,  1730.] 

Mrs.  de  Beauharnois  et  Hocquart  marquent  que  les  raisons 
qui  ont  engage  le  Dubuisson  dans  cette  demarche  leur  font 
penser  qu'il  ne  sera  pas  desaprouv6  d'autant  plus  que  le  bien 
du  service  et  la  necessite  qu'il  y  avoit  d'en  imposer  aux  nations 
sur  les  discours  desavantageux  qu'elles  tenoient  du  peu  de 
succes  de  la  Campagne  de  1728  le  demandait. 

II  est  vray  qu'il  n'a  pas  reussy  dans  cette  entreprise  quoy 
qu'il  ait  aporte"  toute  1'aplication  et  le  zele  qu'on  pouvait  atten- 
dre  mais  les  Renards  estaient  decampez  de  leur  fort  avant  son 
arriv6e.  II  les  a  meme  pour  suivy  pendant  quelques  jours 
inutilement. 

La  depense  qu'il  a  faite  en  cette  occasion  pourra  monter  a  ce 
qu'il  leur  a  marquS  a  2  ou  3  M — .  Us  en  envoyeront  1'estat 
I'ann6e  prochaine.  Cependant  afin  qu'aucun  autre  comman 
dant  ne  tombe  pas  dans  le  meme  cas.  M.  de  Beauharnois  a 
ecrit  a  tous  les  commandants  des  postes  de  ne  point  accepter 
de  pareilles  propositions  de  la  par  des  sauvages  sans  recevoir 


APPENDIX  363 

auparavant  ses  ordres.  II  a  pareillement  deffendu  de  traitter 
ny  armes  ny'munitions  tant  aux  Renards  qu'a  leurs  allies  dans 
le  nombre  desquels  sont  particulierement  les  Sakis.  Us 
ajoutent  que  cette  derniere  tentative  du  Sr.  le  Dubuisson  a 
existe  denouveau  dans  1'esprit  des  nations  la  defaite  entiere 
des  Renards ;  Les  Sioux  qui  ne  s'estoient  pas  jusqu'a  present 
declares  ont  frappe  dessus  et  en  ont  tue  douze;  Ainsy  il  y  a 
aparence  qu'ils  saffoibliront  de  maniere  qu'ils  [ne  pourront 
plus  se  relever  et  qu'on  assurera  par  ce  moyen  la  tranquilite 
des  pays  d'enhant  sans  qu'il  soit  besoin  dorenavant  d'autres 
secours  que  des  sauvages  memes  que  M.  de  Beauharnois  con- 
tinuera  d'entretenir  dans  ces  dispositions  jusqu'a  ce  que  les 
Renards  soient  entierement  detruits  ou  qu'ils  soient  soumis 
aux  conditions  prescrittes  s'ils  demandait  la  paix. 

TRANSLA  TION: 

Messrs,  de  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  note  that  the  reasons 
which  have  induced  le  Dubuisson  in  this  move  makes  them 
think  that  he  will  not  be  censured,  the  more  so  as  the  good  of 
the  service  demanded  it,  and  the  necessity  that  there  was  of 
overawing  the  nations  for  the  slighting  remarks  which  they 
made  about  the  lack  of  success  of  the  Company  of  1728. 

It  is  true  that  he  did  not  succeed  in  that  enterprise,  although 
he  devoted  all  the  application  and  zeal  which  could  be 
expected,  but  the  Foxes  had  decamped  from  their  fort  before 
his  arrival.  He  even  pursued  them  uselessly  for  several  days. 

The  expenses  which  he  had  on  this  occasion  will  amount  to 
what  he  noted  to  them,  to  two  or  three  M — .  They  will  send 
the  account  of  it  the  next  year.  However,  in  order  that  no 
other  commandant  may  fall  in  the  same  error,  M.  de  Beauhar 
nois  has  written  to  all  the  commandants  of  the  posts  to  not 
accept  such  propositions  on  the  part  of  the  savages,  without 
first  receiving  orders  from  him.  He  has  likewise  forbidden  to 
furnish  either  arms  or  munitions  to  the  Foxes  and  their  allies 
in  the  number  of  which  are  particularly  the  Saks.  They  add 
that  this  last  attempt  of  M.  le  Dubuisson  has  revived  anew  in 
the  minds  of  the  nations  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Foxes. 
The  Sioux,  who  up  to  the  present  had  not  declared  themselves, 
attacked  them  and  killed  twelve.  Thus  there  is  an  appearance 
that  they  will  become  enfeebled,  so  much  so  that  they  will  not 


364  APPENDIX 

be  able  to  recover,  and  by  these  means  the  tranquillity  of  the 
upper  country  will  be  assured,  without  any  further  need  of 
other  assistance  than  the  savages  themselves,  whom  M.  le 
Beauharnois  will  continue  to  keep  in  that  disposition  until  the 
Foxes  are  entirely  destroyed,  or  have  submitted  to  the  condi 
tions  prescribed,  if  they  ask  for  peace. 

[Of  the  loth  of  October,  1730.] 

Le  Marqs.  de  Beauharnois  envoye  la  copie  d'une  lettre  que 
luy  a  ecrit  le  Commandant  du  Detroit  le  22  Aoust,  1730: 

II  en  resulte  que  deux  sauvages  Mascoutins  arriv6s  a  la 
Riviere  St.  Joseph  ou  commande  le  Sr.  de  Villiers  ont  raporte* 
que  les  Renards  se  battoient  avec  les  Ilinois  entre  le  Rocher 
et  les  Ouyatanons,  que  les  puants,  Mascoutins  et  Quiquapoux 
s'estaient  joints  aux  Ilinois  et  avoient  tombe  sur  les  Renards 
qui  se  trouverent  par  ce  moyen  enfermez  des  deux  costes  mais 
dans  le  moment  que  les  puants  les  Mascoutins  et  Quiquipoux 
attaquoient  les  Renards  compants  que  les  Ilinois  leur  feroient 
face  de  1'autre  coste,  ceux  cy  prirent  la  fuite.  II  y  a  eu  dans 
cette  gr  attaque  6  puants  blessez  et  un  tue.  II  a  este  tue  aussy 
deux  Quiquapoux  de  la  Riviere  St.  Joseph  qui  estoient  etablis 
parmi  les  Sakis,  ce  qui  fera  un  bon  effet  parceque  cela  les  a 
anime  centre  des  Renards  et  il  s'en  fallait  beaucoup  qu'ils  ne 
le  fussent  auparavant.  II  y  a  eu  aussi  plusieurs  Renards  tues 
ou  blessez. 

Les  francais  des  Cahosquia  ont  reproche  aux  Ilinois  qu'ils 
estoient  des  femmes  et  qu'ils  ne  scavoient  point  se  battre;  qu'a 
leur  egard  ils  alloient  partir  avec  leurs  Negres  pour  le  joindre 
aux  sauvages  et  defaire  les  Renards ;  ils  forment  deja  un  party 
assez  considerable.  Car  les  Ilinois  qui  avoit  fuyont  rejoint,  ils 
ont  fait  des  troux  en  terre  pour  se  mettre  a  1'abry  et  les 
Renards  sont  dans  un  Islet  de  bois,  si'ils  y  restent  il  y  a  toute 
aparence  qu'ils  pouront  este  defaits,  parceque  les  Sr.  de  Vil 
liers  devoit  partir  de  la  Riviere  St.  Joseph  avec  tous  ses  gens  et 
devoit  en  ecrire  au  commandement  du  detroit  pour  demander 
le  secours  des  ses  sauvages,  mais  ces  lettres  ne  luy  sont  point 
encore  arrivee  et  ses  sauvages  qui  doutent  ce  cette  nouvelle  ne 
veulent  point  partir  que  les  lettres  du  Sr.  de  Villiers  ne  soient 
arrivees  on  ne  doit  cependant  point  douter  que  ces  nouvelles 
ne  soient  veritables.  Le  Pere  Messager,  missionnaire  a  St. 


APPENDIX  365 

Joseph,  ayant  ecrit  a  peu  pres  la  meme  chose  a  P.  la  Richardy, 
missionnaire  du  detroit.  Les  puants  du  detroit  parvissent 
bien  determinez  a  y  aller,  aussy  bien  qu'une  partie  des  Outases, 
mais  il  y  tres  peu  de  Hurons  par  ce  qu'il  en  est  reste  80  du 
party  qui  avail  marche  le  printemps  dernier.  II  en  est  cepen- 
dant  arrive  il  y  a  huit  jours  qui  ont  aporte  une  Chevelure  des 
Chicachas,  on  espere  que  le  reste  des  Hurons  pourra  rejoindre 
et  ce  sera  un  bon  renfort. 

Les  Renards  ont  dit  qu'ils  attendoient  un  gros  party  d'lro- 
quois  qui  devait  les  joindre  et  leur  accorder  retraite.  Us  ont 
petit  estre  tenu  ces  discours  pour  epouvanter  les  autres  nations. 
Cependant  il  est  tres  sur  que  les  Iroquois  a  la  sollicitation  des 
Anglais  sement  tous  les  jours  des  colliers  qui  nous  sont  tres 
prejudiciables. — Canada,  Correspondance  Ghi&rale,  1731,  Vol. 
L  VI,  p.  321. 

[Here  begins  a  chapter  on  the  Sioux.] 

TRANSLA  TION: 

The  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  sends  the  copy  of  a  letter  which 
the  Commandant  of  Detroit  had  written  him  August  22,  1730: 

It  appears  that  two  Mascoutin  savages  who  came  to  the  River 
St.  Joseph  where  M.  de  Villiers  commanded,  reported  that  the 
Foxes  were  fighting  with  the  Illinois  between  the  Rock  and 
the  Ouatonons,  that  the  Puants,  Muscoutines  and  Kickapoos 
had  joined  the  Illinois  and  had  fallen  upon  the  Foxes,  who 
found  themselves  by  this  move  hemmed  in  on  both  sides,  but 
at  the  moment  when  the  Puants,  the  Muscatines  and  Kicka 
poos  attacked,  expecting  the  Illinois  to  face  them  on  the  other 
side,  the  latter  fled.  There  were  in  that  great  attack  six 
Puants  wounded  and  one  killed ;  there  were  also  killed  two 
Kickapoos  of  the  River  St.  Joseph,  who  were  established 
among  the  Saks,  which  will  produce  a  good  effect,  because 
that  will  excite  them  against  the  Foxes,  and  it  lacked  but  little 
before.  There  were  also  several  Foxes  killed  or  wounded. 

The  French  of  the  Cahosquia  reproached  the  Illinois,  saying 
that  they  were  women  and  did  not  know  how  to  fight ;  that,  as 
for  themselves,  they  were  going  to  leave  with  their  negroes  to 
join  the  savages  and  defeat  the  Foxes ;  they  already  form  quite 
a  large  party,  for  the  Illinois,  who  had  fled,  joined  them. 
They  made  holes  in  the  ground  in  order  to  get  under  cover, 


366  APPENDIX 

and  the  Foxes  are  in  a  little  islet  of  wood.  If  they  remain 
there,  there  is  every  appearance  that  they  will  be  defeated, 
since  M.  de  Villiers  was  to  leave  the  River  St.  Joseph  with  all 
his  men,  and  was  to  write  of  it  to  the  Commandant  at  Detroit, 
to  ask  him  for  the  assistance  of  his  savages,  but  these  letters 
have  not  yet  reached  him,  and  his  savages,  who  doubt  this 
news,  do  not  wish  to  depart  because  the  letters  from  M.  de 
Villiers  have  not  arrived.  There  should  be  no  doubt,  however, 
but  that  this  news  is  true,  Le  Pere,  Missionary  Messenger  at 
St.  Joseph,  having  written  about  the  same  thing  to  P.  la 
Richardy,  Missionary  at  Detroit.  The  Puants,  of  Detroit, 
appear  very  much  determined  to  go,  as  well  as  a  party  of  the 
Outeses,  but  there  were  very  few  Hurons,  because  there 
remained  eighty  from  the  party  which  had  marched  last 
spring.  There  arrived,  however,  some  eight  days  ago,  [one] 
who  brought'a  scalp  from  the  Chicasaws.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
remainder  of  the  Hurons  will  be  able  to  join,  and  that  will 
make  a  good  re  enforcement.  The  Foxes  said  that  they  were 
expecting  a  large  party  of  Iroquois,  which  was  to  join  them 
and  offer  them  refuge.  They  perhaps  have  [said]  these  things 
in  order  to  frighten  the  other  nations.  However,  it  is  very 
sure  the  Iroquois,  at  the  instigation  of  the  English,  send  every 
day  beads,  which  will  be  very  harmful  to  us. 

[The  preceding  are  analyses  of  letters  written  by  M.  le  Mar 
quis  de  Beauharnois  to  M.  de  Maurepas,  Minister  of  the 
Marine.  The  original  letters  do  not  exist,  simply  the  analyses, 
made  by  a  clerk  employed  in  the  Ministry.] 

New  Expedition  against  the  Foxes 

[The  Marquis  de  Beauharnois's  letter  to  the  Minister,  June  25, 
1730,  relates  to  a  new  expedition  against  the  Foxes:] 

My  Lord: — The  Sieur  de  Buisson,  who  commands  at  Macki 
naw,  has  dispatched  to  me  a  canoe  from_there,  with  advice  that 
all  the  nations  of'  the  upper  country  were  very  much  excited 
against  the  Foxes ;  that  a  considerable  body  of  Indians  had 
collected  and  requested  him  to  place  himself  at  their  head,  to 
fall  upon  the  nation,  and  destroy  it  entirely.  He  states  that 
he  thought  best  not  to  refuse,  inasmuch  as  their  proposition 
tended  toward  the  peace  of  the  colony,  and  it  was  very  neces- 


APPENDIX  367 

sary  to  take  the  step  to  overcome  the  Indians  and  cut  short 
their  remarks  against  the  French,  concerning  our  little  suc 
cess  in  the  last  campaign  against  the  Foxes. 

This  officer,  My  Lord,  must  have  left  his  post  the  2oth  of  last 
May,  with  six  hundred  men,  among  whom  were  fifty  French 
men.  We  have  unfortunately  no  further  account  of  this  expe 
dition  of  De  Buisson. 

I  have  the  honor  to  send  you  hereunto  annexed  the  extract 
from  a  letter,  'written  to  me  by  the  Sieur  Marin,  who  com 
manded  at  the  Folle-Avoins,  concerning  the  movement  he 
made  last  March,  against  the  Foxes,  with  the  Indians  of  this 
post,  through  their  solicitations,  as  you  will  see  in  the  details 
of  this  adventure  or  action,  which  was  of  the  warmest  charac 
ter,  and  very  well  supported.  This  officer  informs  me  that  he 
was  present  at  the  council  held  at  Mackinaw,  when  the  Indians 
invited  Monsieur  de  Buisson  to  place  himself  at  their  head, 
and  that  a  few  of  the  Folle-Avoins  who  were  there  also  pre 
sented  to  him  the  tomahawk  (as  is  customary  on  similar  occa 
sions),  to  invite  him  to  be  one  of  the  expedition.  Monsieur 
Marin  must  have  gone  with  the  Sieur  de  Buisson.  I  expect 
news  from  their  expedition  before  the  last  of  July,  of  which  I 
will  have  the  honor  of  informing  you  immediately.  I  have 
also  the  honor  of  being,  with  great  respect,  your  very  humble 
and  obedient  servant,  BEAUHARNOIS. 

Montreal,  June  25,  1730. 

TRANSLA  TION: 

Sieur  de  Villiers  Defeats  the  Foxes 
[Messieurs  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart's  letter  to  the  Minister, 
Nov.  2,  1730:] 

My  Lord: — The  Sieur  Colon  de  Villiers,  son  of  Sieur  de 
Villiers,  commanding  at  the  River  St.  Joseph,  has  just  arrived, 
dispatched  by  his  father,  to  bring  us  the  interesting  news  of 
the  almost  total  defeat  of  the  Foxes ;  two  hundred  of  their  war- 
liors  being  killed  on  the  spot,  or  burned  after  having  been 
taken  as  slaves,  and  six  hundred  women  and  children  were 
absolutely  destroyed.  This  affair  took  place  in  September 
under  the  command  of  De  Villiers,  to  whom  were  united  the 
Sieur  de  Noyelle,  commanding  the  Miamis,  and  the  Sieur  de 


368  APPENDIX 

Saint  Ange,  father  and  sons,  from  the  Government  of  Louisi 
ana,  with  the  French  of  that  distant  colony,  together  with 
those  of  our  post,  and  all  the  neighboring  Indians,  our  allies; 
we  numbered  from  1200  to  1300  men.  The  Marquis  de  Beau- 
harnois  will  have,  My  Lord,  the  honor  to  send  you  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  action,  by  the  Sieur  de  Fevie's  vessel,  which  will  sail 
in  about  eight  or  ten  days.  We  risk  this  letter  by  vessel  going 
to  Martinique,  which  may  pass  the  Isle  Royal.  It  was  at  the 
point  of  starting  that  we  learned  this  news.  This  is  a  brilliant 
action,  which  sheds  great  honor  on  Sieur  de  Villiers,  who 
through  it  .may  k  flatter  ^himself  as  having  some  share  in  your 
friendship,  and  the  honor  of  your  protection  in  the  promotion 
which  is  to  take  place. 

BEAUHARNOIS  AND  HOQUART. 

[The  above  is  quoted  from  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Collec 
tion,  in  which  the  editor  says:  "This  boat  was  wrecked  and 
the  dispatches  returned  to  Beauharnois  and  Hoquart,  among 
the  rest  those  regarding  the  last  defeat  of  the  Foxes."] 

[Perrier,  Governor  of  Louisiana,  to  De  Maurepas,  March  25, 


J'ay  P  honneur  d'informer  Votre  Grandeur  de  la  defaite  des 
Renards  sur  les  terres  de  la  Louisianna  par  les  Illinois  et  les 
nations  des  frontieres  du  Canada.  Nos  sauvages  se  plaingnent 
que  ceux  du  Canada  ont  trop  garde  d'esclaves  qu'ils  denoient 
tous  les  tuer  comme  ils  ont  fait,  quelque  bien  quaillent  les 
affaires  les  sauvages  ne  [sont  jamais  content?  ce  que  j'ay  pu 
scavoir  de  plus  positif  'par  les  Francais  qui  estoient  a  cette 
Expedition  c'est  qu'on  a  tuez  onze  a  douze  cent  renards,  tant 
hommes  que  femmcs  et  enfans?  cette  destruction  fait  un  bien 
infini  a  la  Colonie  de  la  Louisianne  dont  le  progres  estoit  arrest6 
par  les  courses  continuelles  que  fasoient  ces  sauvages  tant  sur 
les  francois  que  sur  les  Illinois,  a  present  ce  pals  va  devinir 
dautant  plus  fertile  qu'il  sera  peuple  et  mieux  cultive.  ce 
quartier  doit  estre  regarde  comme  un  des  plus  important  de 
cette  colonie,  et  il  faut  absolument  que  la  Compagnie  y  entre- 
tienne  un  grand  estat-major.  non  seulement  pour  contenir 
les  sauvages  mais  les  francois  coureurs  et  libertins  qui  establis- 
sent  dans  cet  endroit  hors  de  dessou  les  yeux  des  gouverneurs? 


APPENDIX  369 

de  plus  le  fleuve  estant  devenu  libre  par  la  destruction  dec 
natchez,  thioux,  yazous  et  corrois  qui  avaient  resolu  de  det- 
ruire  les  establissements  des  francois.  de  ces  quatre  nations 
qui  estoient  sur  le  fleuve  il  n'en  reste  pas  quarante  hommes  qui 
sont  disperses  pour  esviter  de  tomber  entre  les  mains  des 
autres  nations  qui  j'ai  mis  apres  eux. 

L'expedition  que  je  viens  de  faire,  Monseigneur,  prouve  a 
Votre  Grandeur  qu'on  a  eu  tort  de  lui  insinuer  que  la  guerre 
contre  les  sauvages  icy  ne  se  pouvoit  que  par  d'autres  sauvages 
j'ay  pense  le  contraire  depuis  que  je  suis  dans  ce  pays  icy. 
j'ay  esprouve  depuis  seize  mois  sans  rien  espargner  que  les 
sauvages  sont  bons  et  a  s'entre  escarmoucher  et  a  lever  quel- 
ques  cheveleures  par  cy  par  la  mais  incapable  de  pouvoir  forcer 
ni  detruire  une  nation  fortifiee.  javoue  que  nous  suffrirons 
dans  les  premieres  marches  que  nous  ferons,  mais  rien  n'est 
impossible  au  francais  bien  conduit  il  se  fait  peu  a  peu  aux 
marches  les  plus  penibles  quand  il  s'agit  de  la  gloire  du  Roy? 
Les  officiers  et  les  soldats  qui  ont  marche  avec  mon  frere  et  moy 
n 'estoient  asseurement  pas  faits  aux  fatigues  de  ce  pais  icy. 
Qui  ont  este  le  plus  rude  qu'on  ait  veu  depuis  30  ans.  leur 
zele,  et  leur  emulation  ne  leur  a  fait  faire  aucune  difference 
entre  le  beau  et  le  mauvais  terns  quand  il  s'est  agi  d'attaquer 
1'ennemy.  que  nous  avons  trouve  dans  un  pais  jusqu'a  lors 
inconnu  a  tous  francois  et  m£me  a  nos  sauvages  alliez  dont 
aucun  na  pu  nous  servir  de  guide,  c'est  dans  cette  scitu- 
ation  si  capable  d'abatre  le  courage  le  plus  dur  que  les 
officiers  ont  fait  voir  par  leur  example  que  rien  n'estoit 
impossible  aux  Francais  qui  ne  travaillent  que  pour  la  gloire 
du  Roy? 

On  a  voulu  egalement  faire  voire  a  Votre  Grandeur  que  je  la 
trompais  lorsque  j'avais  1'honneur  de  luy  marquer  qu'il  y  avait 
17  pieds  d'eau  sur  la  barre  du  fleuve?  je  descend  avec  le 
vaisseau,  la  Somne,  pour  faire  faire  un  proces  verbal  de 
1'entree  du  fleuve  et  je  prend  la  liberte  de  dire  a  Votre  Gran 
deur  qu'il  serait  tres  necessaire  au  progres  de  cette  colonie 
que  le  Roy  envoya  tous  les  ans  un  vaisseau  dans  le  fleuve  tant 
pour  estre  asseure  de  1'entree  que  pour  rendre  compte  du  succes 
des  differentes  cultures  et  de  1'etat  des  fortresses?  cette 
colonie  merite  1'attention  de  Votre  Grandeur  le  fleuve  est  le 
plus  beau  port  que  la  France  puisse  avoir  dans  le  Golfe.  il  ni 


370  APPENDIX 

avoit  que  douze  pieds  d'eau  sur  la  barre  quand  je  suis  venu 
dans  ce  pals  icy.  j'y  en  ai  mis  17  par  le  seul  passage  des 
vaisseaux  et  naiant  jamais  eu  ce  qui  m'estoit  necessaire  pour  y 
travailler  de  suite,  je  fais  rester  deux  navires  de  la  compagnie 
pendant  huit  jours  sur  la  barre. — Correspondance  General >, 
year  1731,  Vol.  XIII,  Archives  du  Minis  t^re  des  Colonies, 
Paris. 

TRANSLATION: 

My  Lord: — I  have  the  honor  of  informing  Your  Greatness 
of  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes  upon  the  territory  of  Louisiana 
by  the  Illinois  and  the  Nations  of  the  frontiers  of  Canada. 
Our  savages  complain  that  those  of  Canada  have  kept  too 
many  slaves,  that  they  ought  to  kill  them  all,  as  they  have 
done.  However  well  things  go  the  savages  are  never  con 
tented.  That  which  I  have  been  able  to  learn  the  most 
positive  from  the  French,  who  were  on  that  expedition,  is  that 
they  killed  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  Foxes,  men  as  well  as 
women  and  children!  This  destruction  will  do  an  infinite 
amount  of  good  to  the  Colony  of  Louisiana,  whose  progress 
was  arrested  by  the  continual  incursions  which  they  made 
upon  the  French  as  well  as  upon  the  Illinois.  At  present  this 
country  is  going  to  become  all  the  more  fertile  as  it  will  become 
populous  and  better  cultivated.  This  region  must  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  important  of  this  Colony,  and  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  the  Company  should  maintain  a  great  staff,  not 
only  to  keep  the  savages  in  check,  but  the  roving  and  libertine 
French  who  establish  themselves  in  this  section  away  from  the 
eyes  of  the  Governors.  Furthermore,  the  river  has  become 
free  by  the  destruction  of  the  Natchez,  Thioux,  Yazous,  and 
Corrois,  who  had  resolved  to  destroy  the  establishments  of  the 
French.  Of  these  four  nations  who  were  upon  the  river,  there 
does  not  remain  forty  men,  who  have  dispersed  in  order  to 
avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  other  nations  whom  I  have 
sent  after  them. 

The  expedition  which  I  have  just  made,  My  Lord,  proves  to 
Your  Grandeur  that  folks  were  wrong  in  insinuating  that  the 
war  against  the  savages  here  could  only  be  carried  on  by  other 
savages.  I  have  thought  the  contrary  ever  since  I  have  been 
in  this  country.  I  have  experienced,  for  sixteen  months  with 
out  sparing  anything,  that  the  savages  are  good  to  skirmish 


APPENDIX  371 

against  each  other  and  to  take  off  a  few  scalps  here  and  there, 
but  incapable  of  being  able  to  force  or  destroy  a  fortified 
nation.  I  avow  that  we  shall  suffer  in  the  first  marches  which 
we  make,  but  nothing  is  impossible  to  the  Frenchman  well  led. 
He  accustoms  himself,  little  by  little,  to  the  most  difficult 
marches  when  it  is  a  question  of  the  glory  of  the  King !  The 
officers  and  soldiers,  who  have  marched  with  my  brother  and 
me,  were  certainly  not  accustomed  to  the  fatigues  of  this  coun 
try,  which  have  been  the  most  trying  that  have  been  seen  for 
thirty  years.  Their  zeal  and  emulation  caused  them  to  make  no 
difference  between  the  good  and  the  bad  weather  when  it  was 
a  question  of  attacking  the  enemy  who  are  found  in  a  country 
up  to  that  time  unknown  to  all  French  and  even  to  our  allied 
savages,  of  which  none  could  serve  us  as  guide.  It  was  in  that 
situation,  so  capable  of  striking  down  the  courage  of  the  most 
hardy,  that  the  officers  showed  by  their  example  that  nothing 
was  impossible  to  the  French  who  only  work  for  the  glory  of 
the  King ! 

Folks  also  wished  to  show  Your  Grandeur  that  I  was  deceiv 
ing  him  when  I  had  the  honor  to  inform  him  that  there  were 
seventeen  feet  of  water  upon  the  bar  of  the  river.  I  descended 
with  the  vessel,  the  Somme,  to  have  a  report  made  of  the 
entrance  of  the  river,  and  I  take  the  liberty  to  say  to  Your 
Grandeur  that  it  would  be  very  necessary  for  the  progress  of 
this  Colony  that  the  King  should  send  every  year  a  ship  into 
the  river,  as  much  to  be  assured  of  the  entrance  as  to  take 
account  of  the  success  of  the  different  crops  and  the  state  of 
the  fortresses.  This  Colony  merits  the  attention  of  Your 
Grandeur;  the  river  is  the  most  beautiful  port  which  France 
can  have  in  the  Gulf.  There  were  only  twelve  feet  of  water 
upon  the  bar  when  I  came  to  this  country.  I  put  in  seventeen 
in  the  only  passage  of  the  vessels,  and  never  having  had  what 
I  needed  to  work  successively  at  it  I  have  had  two  ships  of  the 
Company  remain  on  the  bar  for  eight  days. 


Monseigneur: — Nous  avons  eu  1'honneur,  Mr.  Le  Marquis  de 
Beauharnois,  et  moy  de  vous  escrie  1'hiver  dernier  par  la  Nou- 
velle  Angleterre,  a  1'occasion  de  la  defaite  des  Renards.  je 
joins  a  celle  cy  le  duplicata  de  ma  lettre  particuliere  du  16 


372  APPENDIX 

Janvier  dernier  qui  vous  sera  rendu  Monseigneur  par  la  voye 
de  1'isle  Royalle. 

[There  is  nothing  more  relative  to  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes.] 
Votre  tres  humble  et  tres  obeissant  serviteur, 

HOCQUART. 
A  Quebec,  le  16  May,  1731. 

— Canada,  Correspondance  Gkn&rale,  ifji,  Vol.  L  V 

TRANSLA  TION: 

My  Lord: — We  had  the  honor,  M.  Le  Marquise  de  Beauhar- 
nois  and  myself,  to  write  you  last  winter  via  New  England,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes.  I  join  to  this  the 
duplicate  of  my  especial  letter  of  the  i6th  of  January,  last,  which 
will  be  brought  to  you,  Monseigneur,  by  the  way  of  Isle  Royal. 
Your  most  humble  and  most  obedient  servant, 

HOCQUART. 
At  Quebec,  May  16,  1731. 

[There  are  also  in  the  archives  at  Paris  (Canada,  Corre 
spondance  Generate,  1731,  Vol.  LVI,  p.  251)  eight  other  letters 
relative  to  the  wars  with  the  Foxes,  but  all  prior  to  1730.] 

Account  of  the  Defeat  of  the  Foxes  by  the  French  of 
Louisiana  and  of  Canada 

Les  Renards  unis  avec  les  Maskoutins  et  Quickapous  nous 
fesoient  depuis  bien  des  annees  une  guerre  ouverte  et  aux 
sauvages  nos  allies?  ils  surprenoient  nos  detachements,  ils 
enlevoient  nos  voiageurs,  traversoient  tous  nos  dessins,  et 
venoient  nous  inquitter  meme  juisque  dans  nos  habitations, 
que  nous  ne  pouvions  cultiver  que  les  armes  a  la  main,  on  avait 
tente  deja  plusieurs  fois  de  les  detruire.  mais  le  peu  de  con 
cert  1'  esprit  et  la  mauvaise  conduite  de  ceux  qui  furent  charges 
en  divers  terns  de  cette  entreprise  1'avoient  tou jours  fait 
eschouer,  un  evenement  causa  en  fin  leur  desunion  et  la  perte 
des  renards. 

Au  mois  d'octobre  de  1'annee  1728  un  parti  de  Quikapous  et 
Maskoutins  fit  prisonnier  sur  le  Missisipi  dix  sept  francais  qui 
descendoient  des  Sioux  aux  Illinois,  ils  delibrerent  d'abord  sils 
les  brusleroient  ou  s'ils  les  remettroient  entre  les  mains  des 
renards  qui  les  leur  demandoient.  mais  le  pere  Guignas  miss 
jesuite  qui  estoient  du  nombre  des  prisonniers  gagna  leur  con- 
fiance  et  vint  about  ensuite  des  les  detacher  deux  et  des  les 


APPENDIX  373 

engager  a  nous  demander  la  paix.  il  vint  luy  meme  avec  eux 
aubout  de  cinq  mois  de  captivite  au  fort  de  Chartres  ou  elle  se 
conclut  selon  leurs  souhaits. 

Les  renards,  affaibles  et  deconcertes  par  cette  division  pen- 
serent  a  se  ref ugier  par  les  ouyatannons  ches  les  Iroquois  amis 
des  anglais,  les  quickapous  et  maskoutins  penetrerent  leur 
dessin  et  ils  en  donnerent  avis  dans  tons  les  postes  aux  francais 
de  la  Louisianne  et  du  Canada.  On  douta  quelque  terns  de 
leur  bonne  foy,  et  M.  de  St.  Ange  officier  commandant  au  fort 
de  Chartres  ne  pouvait  determiner  les  habitans  francais  a  se 
mettre  en  campagne. 

Cependant  les  Illinois  du  village  des  lakokias  vinrent  au  mois 
de  juillet  1730  nous  aprendre  que  les  renards  avoient  fait  des 
prisonniers  sur  eux  et  brule  le  fils  de  leur  grand  chef  aupres  du 
rocher  sur  la  riviere  des  Illinois,  ce  nouvelle  jointes  a  des  avis 
que  nous  receumes  dailleurs  engagerent  a  partir.  on  assembla 
les  sauvages,  Mr.  de  St.  Ange  se  mit  a  la  teste  des  francais  et 
le  10*  jour  d'aoust  ceux-ci  aiant  joint  les  trois  a  quatre  cent 
sauvages  qui  les  avoient  devances  de  quelque  -jours  notre  armee 
se  trouva  forte  de  500  hommes. 

Les  Quikapous,  Maskoutins  et  Illinois  du  rocher  s'estoient 
rendus  maitre  des  parrages  du  coste  du  nord'est  et  fut  vrai- 
semblement  ce  qui  contraignit  les  renards  de  faire  un  fort  au 
rocher  a  une  lieue  audessous  deux  pour  se  mettre  a  couvert  de 
leurs  insultes.  Nous  eumes  des  nouvelles  de  1'ennemi  le  12°  par 
un  de  nos  decouvreurs  qui  nous  aprit  ou  estoit  leur  fort  et  qu'il 
y  avoit  compte  cent  ouze  cabannes.  Nous  n'en  estoins  plus 
esloigner  que  de  deux  ou  trois  journees?  Nous  continuames 
done  notre  marche  par  des  pals  couverts,  et  le  1 7"  a  la  pointe 
du  jour  nous  arrivames  a  la  vue  de  1'ennemi.  Nous  tombames 
sur  un  parti  de  40  hommes  qui  estoient  sortis  pour  la  chasse 
que  nous  contraignimes  de  regagner  leur  fort. 

C'estoit  un  petit  bouquet  de  bois  renferme  de  pieux  et  situ6 
sur  une  pente  douce  qui  s'elevoit  du  cote  du  oiiest  et  du  nord 
oiiest  le  long  d'une  petite  riviere,  en  sorte  que  du  cote  du  sud 
et  du  sud'est  on  les  voioit  a  decouvert  leurs  cabannes  estoient 
fort  petites  et  pratequees  dans  la  terre  comme  les  tamieres  des 
renards  dont  ils  portent  le  nom. 

Au  bruit  des  premiers  coups  de  fusil  les  quickapous,  mas 
koutins  et  Illinois  qui  estoient  souvent  aux  mains  avec  leurs 


374  APPENDIX 

partis  et  qui  depuis  un  mois  attendoient  du  secours  vinrent 
nous  joindre  au  nombre  de  200  hommes  on  se  partagea  selon 
les  ordres  de  Mr.  de  St.  Ange  pour  bloquer  les  renards  qui 
firent  ce  jour  la  deux  sorties  inutiles.  On  ouvrit  la  tranchee 
la  nuit  suivante  et  chacun  travailla  a  se  fortifier  dans  le  post 
qui  luy  este  assigne. 

Le  19  les  ennemis  demanderent  a  parler  ils  offrirent  de 
rendre  les  es  claves  q'uils  avoient  faits  autrefois  sur  les  Illinois, 
et  ils  en  rendirent  en  effet  quelques-uns.  mais  on  s'apercent 
q'uils  ne  cherchoient  qua  nous  amuser,  on  recommencea  a  tirer 
sur  eux  des  le  lendemain. 

Nous  fumes  joint  les  jours  suivants  par  50  a  60  francais  et  500 
sauvages  Poiiatamie,  et  Sakis  que  avaoit  amenes  Mr.  de  Vil- 
liers  commandant  de  la  riviere  St.  Joseph,  ouyatannons  et 
Peauguichias.  Nouvelle  conference,  les  renards  demandent 
la  vie  les  presents  a  la  main.  Mr.  de  Villiers  paroit  tente  mais 
ses  gens  n'estoient  pas  les  plus  forts  et  il  ne  pouvait  rien  con- 
clure  sans  le  consentement  des  francais  et  sauvages  Illinois  qui 
ne  vouloient  se  preter  a  aucun  accommodement. 

Cependant  on  s'apercent  que  les  Sakis  nous  trahissoient, 
parens  et  alliez  des  renards,  ils  traittoient  sous  mainavec  eux. 
ils  leur  fournissoient  des  munitions  et  ils  prenoient  des  mesures 
pour  favoriser  leur  evasion,  nos  sauvages  qui  ser  aperceurent 
le  ieT  7tro  sameutrent  et  ils  estoient  sur  le  point  de  donner 
sur  les  Sakis  1'orsque  Mr.  de  St.  Ange  a  la  teste  de  100  fran 
cais  savanca  pour  fermer  toutes  les  avenues  du  cote  des  Sakis 
et  retablit  le  bon  ordre. 

Nous  dissimulames  cette  perfidie  jusqua  1'arrivee  de  Mr.  de 
Noille  commandant  des  Miamis  qui  se  rendit  a  notre  camp  le 
meme  jour  avec  10  francais  et  200  sauvages,  il  aportoit  des 
defenses  de  Mr.  le  gouverneur  du  Canada  de  faire  aucun  traitt6 
avec  les  renards.  On  tint  un  con81  genera!,  les  Sakis  y 
furent  humilies  et  toutes  les  voix  se  reunirent  pour  la  perte  de 
1'ennemy. 

Mais  nous  souffrions  deja  depuis  longtems  de  la  faim  aussi 
bien  que  les  renards.  Nos  sauvages  reduits  a  manger  leurs 
pars  fleches  se  rebutoient  200  Illinois  deserterent  le  7  7b™  ce 
mauvais  example  n'eut  pas  de  suite,  les  renards  estoient  plus 
press6  tous  les  jours  les  trouppes  de  Mr.  de  St.  Ange  construis- 
soient  a  deux  portees  de  pistollet  un  petit  fort  qui  alloit  leur 


APPENDIX 


375 


couper  la  communication  de  la  riviere,  tout  paroissoit  nous 
annoncer  une  victoire  complete. 

Mais  le  8e  7bre  un  orage  voilent  des  tonneres  affreux  une 
pluie  continuelle  interrompirent  nos  ouvrages.  cette  journee 
fut  suivie  d'une  nuit  aussi  pluvieuse  que  noire  et  tres  froide. 
Les  renards  profiterent  de  1'occasion  et  sortirent  en  silence  de 
leurs  fort,  on  s'en  apercent  aussitot  aux  cris  des  enfants. 
mais  que  faire  et  a  quelle  marque  se  reconnaitre  dans  cette 
obscurite?  on  craignoit  egalement  de  tuer  nos  gens  et  de 
laisser  eschaper  1'ennemi.  tout  le  monde  estoit  cependant 
sous  les  armes  et  les  sauvages  s'avancoient  sur  les  deux  ailes 
des  renards  pour  donner  des  que  le  jour  parvitroit.  il  parut 
en  fin  et  chacun  se  mit  a  les  suivre.  Nos  sauvages  plus  frais  et 
plus  vigoureux  les  joignirent  bientot. 

Les  femmes,  les  enfans  et  les  viellards  marchoient  a  la  teste 
et  les  guerriers  s'estoient  mis  derriere  pour  les  couvrir.  ils 
furent  d'abord  rompus  et  defaits.  le  nombre  des  morts  et  des 
prisonniers  fut  environ  de  300  homines  guerrier  sans  parler  des 
femmes  et  des  enfans.  tous  conviennent  quil  n'en  est 
eschape  au  plus  que  50  ou  60  homines  qui  se  sont  sauv6s  sans 
fusil  et  sans  des  meubles  necessaires  a  la  vie.  Les  Illinois  du 
rocher,  les  maskoutins  et  les  quikapous  sont  actuellement  apres 
ce  petit  reste  de  fuiards  et  les  premieres  nouvelles  nous  apren- 
dront  la  destruction  de  cette  malheureuse  nation. 

Nous  ne  scavons  pas  encore  combien  les  nations  du  Canada 
ont  tues  de  guerriers  non  plus  que  le  nombre  d'esclaves  quils 
ont  faits.  —  Canada,  Correspondance  G&n&rale,  1732,  Vol. 
CLVII,p.3/6. 

[This  is  the  document  which  Ferland  had  before  him  when 
he  wrote  the  description  of  the  battle ;  indeed,  he  made  use  of 
the  account  in  totoJ\ 

TRANSLA  TION: 

The  Foxes,  united  with  the  Muscatines  and  Kickapoos,  had 
carried  on  open  warfare  against  us  and  against  the  savages, 
our  allies.  They  surprised  our  detachments;  they  carried 
away  our  travelers ;  thwarted  all  our  schemes  and  even  came 
to  disturb  us  in  our  settlements,  which  we  could  only  cultivate, 
our  arms  in  our  hands.  Their  destruction  had  been  under 
taken  already  several  times,  but  the  lack  of  harmony,  the  tem 
per  and  the  bad  leadership  of  those  who  were  charged  at  differ- 


376  APPENDIX 

ent  times  with  this  enterprise  had  always  caused  it  to  fail. 
An  event  finally  caused  their  disunion  and  the  loss  of  the 
Foxes. 

In  the  month  of  October  of  the  year  1728  a  party  of  Kicka- 
poos  and  Muscatines  captured  upon  the  Mississippi  seventeen 
French  who  were  descending  from  the  Sioux  to  the  Illinois. 
They  deliberated  at  first  whether  they  should  burn  them  or 
whether  they  should  give  them  into  the  hands  of  the  Foxes, 
who  were  asking  for  them ;  but  Father  Guignas,  a  Jesuit  mis 
sionary,  who  was  one  of  the  prisoners,  gained  their  confidence 
and  finally  succeeded  in  detaching  them  from  them  [Foxes], 
and  induced  them  to  ask  us  for  peace.  He  himself  came  with 
them,  at  the  end  of  five  months'  captivity,  to  Fort  de  Chartres, 
where  it  was  concluded  according  to  their  wishes. 

The  Foxes  enfeebled  and  disconcerted  by  this  division, 
thought  about  taking  refuge  (by  passing  through  the  territory 
of  the  Outanous)  among  the  Iroquois,  the  friends  of  the  Eng 
lish.  The  Kickapoos  and  Muscatines  anticipated  their  designs, 
and  they  gave  notice  of  them  in  all  the  French  posts  of  Louisi 
ana  and  of  Canada.  Their  good  faith  was  doubted  for  some 
time,  and  M.  de  St.  Ange,  officer  commanding  at  Fort  Char 
tres,  could  not  persuade  the  French  inhabitants  to  take  up 
arms. 

However,  the  Illinois'of  the  village  of  Lakokias  came  in  the 
month  of  July,  1730,  to  tell  us  that  the  Foxes  had  taken  some 
prisoners  among  them,  and  had  burned  the  son  of  their  great 
chief  near^the  Rock,  upon  the  Illinois  River.  This  news, 
joined  to  information  we  received  from  elsewhere,  led  us  to 
move.  The  savages  are  brought  together,  M.  de  St.  Ange 
places  himself  at  the  head  of  the  French,  and  the  roth  day  of 
August,  after  having  overtaken  the  three  or  four  hundred 
savages  which  had  preceded  them  several  days,  our  army  finds 
itself  500  men  strong. 

The  Kickapoos,  Muscatines  and  Illinois  of  the  Rock  had 
taken  possession  of  the  northeast  quarter,  and  it  was  probably 
that  which  constrained  the  Foxes  to  build  a  fort  at  the  Rock  a 
league  below  them  in  order  to  get  under  cover  from  their 
assaults.  We  had  news  of  the  enemy  on  the  i2th  from  one  of 
our  scouts,  who  informed  us  where  their  fort  was,  and  that  he 
had  counted  there  one  hundred  and  eleven  cabins.  We  were 


APPENDIX  377 

distant  from  it  only  two  or  three  days'  march.  We  continued, 
therefore,  our  march  through  covered  country,  and  the  i7th,  at 
the  break  of  day,  we  arrived  in  sight  of  theienemy. 

We  met  a  party  of  forty  men 'who  had  gone  outpn  the  hunt, 
whom  we  forced  to  return  to  their  fort. 

It  was  a  little  thicket  of  woods  enclosed  with  piles  and  situ 
ated  upon  ^a  gentle  slope  which  rose  in  the  direction  of  the 
west  and  northwest  along  a  little  river ;  so  that  in  the  direction 
of  the  south  and  southeast  one  saw  them  plainly;  their  tepees 
were  small  and  set  in  the  earth  like  the  dens  (holes)  of  foxes, 
whose  name  they  bear. 

At  the  noise  of  the  first  gunshot  the  Kickapoos,  Muscatines 
and  the  Illinois  who  were  often  in  contact  with  their  bands,  and 
who  had  been  expecting  aid  for  a  month,  came  to  join  us  to 
the  number  of  200  men.  They  divided  according  to  the  orders 
of  M.  de  St.  Ange,  in  order  to  blockade  the  Foxes,  who  made 
two  unfruitful  attempts  to  get  out  that  day.  A  trench  was 
opened  in  the  following  night,  and  each  worked  to  fortify  him 
self  at  the  post  assigned  him. 

The  igth  the  enemy  asked  a  parley.  They  offered  to  give 
up  the  slaves  which  they  had  formerly  taken  from  the  Illinois, 
and  they  returned  several,  in  fact,  but  it  could  be  seen  that 
they  were  only  seeking  to  amuse  themselves.  The  firing  upon 
them  began  again  the  next  morning. 

We  were  joined  the  following  day  by  fifty  to  sixty  French, 
and  500  savages,  Pottawattamies  and  Saks,  whom  M.  de  Vil- 
liers,  Commandant  of  St.  Joseph  River  Outamous  and  Peau- 
quichias,  had  led  thither.  A  new  conference  was  held.  The 
Foxes  asked  for  their  lives  with  presents  in  their  hands.  M.  de 
Villiers  appeared  tempted,  but  his  followers  were  not  the 
strongest,  and  he  could  not  conclude  anything  without  the 
consent  of  the  French  and  the  Illinois  savages,  who  would  not 
lend  themselves  to  any  agreement. 

In  the  meanwhile  we  perceived  that  the  Saks  were  betraying 
us  to  the  relatives  and  allies  of  [the  Foxes.  They  were  treat 
ing  underhandedly  with  them.  They  were  furnishing  them 
with  ammunition,  and  they  were  taking  measures  to  favor 
their  escape.  Our  savages,  who  noticed  it  the  ist  of  Septem 
ber,  mutinied,  and  they  were  upon  the  point  of  attacking  the 
Saks  when  M.  de  St.  Ange  at  the  head  of  100  French  advanced 


378  APPENDIX 

so  as  to  close  all  avenues  in  the  direction  of  the  Saks  and  re 
establish  good  order. 

'  We  feigned  not  to  take  notice  of  this  perfidy  until  the  arrival 
of  M.  de  Noille,  Commandant  of  the  Miamis,  who  came  to  our 
camp  the  same  day  with  ten  French  and  200  savages.  He 
brought  a  prohibition  from  the  Governor  of  Canada  to  make 
any  treaty  with  the  Foxes.  A  general  council  was  held.  The 
Saks  were  humiliated,  and  all  voices  joined  for  the  destruction 
of  the  enemy. 

But  we  had  already  suffered  a  long  time  from  hunger  as  well 
as  the  Foxes.  Our  savages,  reduced  to  eating  their  shields, 
were  disheartened.  Two  hundred  Illinois  deserted  on  the  7th 
of  September.  This  bad  example  had  no  result.  The  Foxes 
were  pressed  harder  every  day.  The  troops  of  M.  de  St.  Ange 
constructed  a  small  fort  at  two  lengths  of  a  pistol-shot, 
which  was  to  cut  them  off  from  communication  with  the 
river.  Everything  appeared  to  promise  a  complete  victory 
for  us. 

But  on  the  8th  of  September  a  violent  storm,  with  frightful 
thunder  and  continual  rain,  interrupted  our  works.  This  day 
was  followed  by  a  night  quite  as  rainy,  dark,  and  very  cold. 
The  Foxes  profited  by  the  occasion  and  left  their  forts  in 
silence.  It  was  immediately  noticed  from  the  cries  of  the  chil 
dren.  But  what  could  we  do,  and  by  what  marks  could  we 
recognize  one  another  in  that  darkness?  We  feared  equally 
killing  our  own  men  and  letting  the  enemy  escape.  Every 
one,  however,  was  under  arms,  and  the  savages  advanced 
upon  the  two  wings  of  the  Foxes  in  order  to  attack  them  as 
soon  as  the  day  should  appear.  It  finally  appeared,  and  each 
one  began  following  them.  Our  savages,  fresher  and  more 
vigorous,  soon  overtook  them. 

The  women,  the  children  and  the  old  men  were  marching  at 
the  head,  and  the  warriors  had  taken  their  places  behind  them 
in  order  to  cover  them.  They  were  at  first  broken  and  then 
defeated.  The  number  of  the  dead  and  of  the  prisoners  was 
about  300  warriors,  without  speaking  of  the  women  and  the 
children.  All  agree  that  at  the  most  only  fifty  or  sixty  men 
escaped,  who  ran  away  without  guns  or  any  weapons  neces 
sary  to  life!  The  Illinois  of  the  Rock,  the  Muscatines  and  the 
Kickapoos  are  at  present  after  this  small  remaining  number  of 


APPENDIX 


379 


runaways,  and  the  first  news  will  bring  information  of  the 
destruction  of  that  miserable  nation. 

We  do  not  yet  know  how  many  warriors  the  nations  of 
Canada  killed,  nor  the  number  of  slaves  which  they  have 
taken. 

Defeat  of  the  Fox  Savages 

[December  18,  1731.] 

Le  6  aoust  1730  le  Sr.  de  Villiers  commandant  a  la  Riviere 
St.  Joseph  apris  par  deux  Maskoutins  qut  lui  furent  deputes 
par  leur  nation  que  les  Renards  qui  s'estoient  mis  en  marche 
pour  se  rendre  chez  les  Iroquois  avoient  6te  poursuivis  par  les 
Poutoutamis  Maskoutins  Kikapous  et  Illinois  et  qu'apres  avoir 
essuye  deux  differentes  attaques  de  la  part  de  ces  nations,  ils 
avoient  gagne  un  bosquet  de  vois  on  ils  s'estoient  fortifies  avec 
leurs  families. 

II  donne  aussitot  avis  de  cette  nouvelle  au  Sr.  de  Noyelles 
commandant  aux  Miamis.  il  detacha  en  meme  temps  deux 
sauvages  au  Commandant  du  Detroit  pour  lui  en  faire  par  et 
le  10  du  meme  mois  il  partit  lui  meme  a  la  tete  de  300  francais 
ou  sauvages  allies  pour  se  rendre  au  lieu  ou  etoient  les  Renards. 
II  y  trouva  le  Sr.  de  St.  Ange  qui  y  etait  deja  arrive  de  la 
Louisianne  avec  100  francais  et  400  sauvages.  Le  Sr.  de 
Noyelles  s'y  rendit  aussi  avec  des  nations  de  son  poste,  en 
sorte  que  la  troupe  se  trouva  composee  d' environ  1400  homines. 

Les  Renards  avoient  construit  leur  fort  dans  un  bouquet  de 
bois  situe  sur  le  bord  d'une  Riviere  dans  une  vaste  prairie. 
Le  Sr.  St.  Ange  s'etait  campe  a  la  gauche  de  cette  riviere  et 
avait  fait  faire  des  redoutes  pour  couper  1'eau  aux  assieges ; 
mais  ce  redoutes  devinrent  inutiles,  les  Renards  ay  ant  trouve" 
le  moyen  de  pratiquer  des  chemins  souterrains  qui  communi- 
quoient  a  la  riviere. 

Le  Sr.  de  Villiers  se  campa  a  la  droite  de  leur  fort  pour  le 
battre.  II  en  fit  construire  lui  meme  deux  avec  un  cavalier  et 
pour  en  aprocher  de  plus  pres  et  essayer  d'y  mettre  le  feu,  il 
fit  ouvrir  la  tranchee.  Les  assieges  firent  d'abord  grand  feu 
sur  lui,  mais  ils  chercherent  bientot  a  parlementer;  les  nations 
sauvages  qui  ne  vouloient  que  faire  des  esclaves,  lui  propose- 
rent  de  les  ecouter,  mais  il  refusa  constament;  en  sorte  qu'ils 


380  APPENDIX 

tournerent  leurs  ^tentatives  du  cot6  du  Sr.  de  St.  Ange  qui  fit 
le  meme  refus. 

Les  assieges  se  trouverent  par  la  reduits  a  manger  leur 
couvertures  de  peaux;  malgre  cet  6tat  violent  ils  soutinrent 
pendant  23  jours ;  mais  le  8,  7  bre.  il  y  cut  un  orage,  si  furieux 
et  la  nuit  si  obscure,  qu'il  ne  fut  pas  possible  au  Sr.  de 
Villiers  d'engager  les  sauvages  a  garder  les  passages.  Les 
assieges  profiterent  de  cet  avantage  pour  sortir  de  leur  fort ; 
mais  les  cris  de  leurs  enfants,  et  une  femme  qui  se  rendit  a  la 
tranchee  ayant  decouverte  leur  fuite,  on  les  poursuivit,  on  les 
joignit:  a  la  pointe  du  jour,  on  donna  sur  eux  avec  viguer,  on 
les  mit  en  deroute ;  200  guerriers  furent  tues  ou  brales ;  600 
femmes  ou  enfants  eurent  le  meme  sort,  et  cette  defaite  jointe 
aux  autres  pertes  que  cette  nation  avoit  soufert  dans  les  differ- 
entes  attaques  qu'elle  avait  assuy6  precedemment  de  la  part 
des  sauvages  allies,  la  reduite  a  30  cabannes  avec  quelques 
vieilles  femmes  sans  enfans  erronte  sans  vivres  munitions. 
les  Illinois  ont  encore  frape  sur  elle  ;*  et  ne  trouvant  d'azile 
nulle  part,  elle  a  pris  le  parti  d'envoyer  deux  nouveaux  chefs  a 
Mr.  le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  pour  lui  demander  la  vie. 

Dans  les  paroles  que  ces  2  chefs  lui  ont  port£s  de  la  part  du 
reste  de  la  nation  ils  se  sont  representes  comme  des  victimes 
dignes  de  la  mort  et  ils  lui  ont  demande  grace  que  pour  reparer 
par  leur  soumission  les  crimes  que  leur  obstination  leur  a  fait 
commetre.  Ils  lui  ont  proteste  que  si  dans  la  suite  il  se 
trouve  quelque  coupable  ils  le  livreront  eux-memes  pour 
estre  puni ;  et  pour  assurance  de  leur  protestation,  ils  lui  ont 
demand^  quelqu'un  pour  les  gouverner.  Mr.  le  Marquis  de 
Beauharnois  leur  a  repondu  avec  fermet6,  il  leur  a  fait  voir 
1 'indignit6  de  leur  conduite,  il  leur  a  reproche  leur  trahisons, 
et  les  tentatives  qu'ils  avoient  faites  ches  les  Sonontouans  dans 
le  temps  qu'ils  lui  demandoient  la  paix.  II  leur  a  dit  qu'il 
voulait  d'autres  assurances  de  leur  fidelit6  que  leur  protesta 
tions  et  leurs  paroles;  et  il  a  exig6  que  1'un  d'eux  restat  aupres 
de  lui,  et  que  1'autre  allot  chercher  4  des  principaux  guerriers 
de  la  nation  pour  lui  venir  demander  pardon  I'ann6e  prochaine 
a  Montreal ;  sans  quoi  tout  ce  reste  miserable  seroit  extermine 

*Suivant  une  lettre  du  Sr.  de  Boishebert,  commandant  au  Detroit  du  15 
juillet  1731  les  Illinois  ont  tu6  dans  cette  occasion  3  femmes  et  fait. 


APPENDIX  381 

sans  misericorde,  cette  condition  a  este  accepte"  1'un  des  chefs 
est  parti  pour  aller  faire,  par  a  sa  nation  de  la  reponse  de  Mr. 
le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  Pautre  est  reste  aupres  de  lui  et  on 
attend  le  printemps  prochain  le  4  guerriers.  Les  sauvages 
paroissent  cependant  vouloir  en  6teindre  la  race,  et  M.  le 
Marquis  de  Beauharnois  les  entiendra  dans  cette  disposition  si 
cette  nation  manque  a  ce  qu'elle  lui  a  promis. 

Cette  defaite  a  repandu  la  joye  ches  les  nations  et  il  est  venu 
1'este  dernier  a  Montreal  des  sauvages  de  toutes  partes  pour  en 
marquer  leur  satisfaction  a  M.  le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  et 
lui  renouveler  les  assurances  de  leur  fidelite,  el  y  a  este  d'aulant 
plus  sensible  lui  meme  que  par  la  resignation  de  tous  les  sau 
vages  il  s'est  apercu  de  1'impression  que  cette  guerre  a  fait  sur 
leurs  esprits  et  quil  se  trouve  par  ce  moyen  en  etat  de  travail- 
ler  a  retablir  dans  les  pays  d'enhaut  la  paix  qui  y  etait  enter- 
rompiie  depuis  longtemps  et  d'y  continuer  nos  etablissements. 
C'est  dans  cette  veu  quil  a  renvoy6  cette  annee  ches  les  Sioux 
pour  y  retablir  le  poste  qu'on  avait  este  oblige  d'abandonner,  a 
cause  de  la  proximite  des  Renards  et  il  a  renouvelle  pour  cet 
effet  le  traite  quil  avait  fait  lors  du  per  etablissement  de  ce 
poste.* 

II  ne  lui  a  paru  moins  'important  de  penser  au  poste  de  la 
Baye  que  la  proximit6  des  Renards  avait  aussi  fait  abandon- 
ner.  il  y  a  envoye"  le  Sr.  de  Villiers  au  retour  de  son  expedi 
tion  pour  le  retablir  comme  il  etait  avant  quil  fut  evacue  en  cas 
qu'il  trouve  les  Sakis  dans  la  disposition  d'y  etablir  parealle- 
ment  leur  village. 

II  a  era  devoir  d'abord  pouvoir  au  retablissement  de  ces  deux 
postes  d'autant  plus  que  1'empechmens  que  les  Renards  apor- 
toient  a  celui  des  Scioux  ne  subsistant  plus,  on  sera  en  etat 
d'en  tirer  tous  les  avantages  qu'on  s'etait  propose.  D'un  autre 
cote  Penterprise  de  Sr.  de  la  Veranderie  le  demandait,  parce 
quil  est  absolument  necessaire  que  cette  nation  soit  dans  nos 
interets,  afin  de  nous  mettre  a  portee  d'estre  en  commerce  avec 
les  assiniboils  et  les  Cristenaux  ches  lesquels  il  faut  passer  pour 
aller  a  la  decouverte  de  la  mer  de  POuest.  Les  Cristenaux  ont 
eu  affaire  avec  les  Sauteurs  de  la  pointe  de  Chagouamigon  et 
leur  ont  tue  quelques  hommes,  mais  il  compte  P  affaire  acco- 

*Ce  traite  avoit  este  fait  en  1726,  il  y  en  a  une  copie  cy  jointe. 


382  APPENDIX 

modee,  et  il  veillera  a  ce  que  ces  sauvages  vivent  en  paix  a 
1'avenir,  les  differens  entre  ces  nations  prejudicieroient  beau- 
coup  a  toutes  nos  enterprises,  pour  la  reussite  desquelles  il  est 
besoin  de  la  tranquillite  quil  tacher  d'afermer  dans  les  pays 
d'en  haut. 

Mr.  De  Maurepas,  Ministre  de  la  Marine,  fonctionnaires 
divers  de  la  Colonie. — Canada,  Correspondance  Gbntrale, 
1731,  Vol.  L  VI,  p.  336. 

TRANSLA  TION: 

The  6th  of  August,  1730,  M.  de  Villiers,  commandant  at  the 
St.  Joseph  river,  learned  from  two  Maskoutins  who  had  been 
sent  to  him  by  their  nation  that  the  Foxes,  who  had  started  on 
the  march  to  go  to  the  Iroquois,  had  been  pursued  by  the  Pot- 
tawattamies,  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos  and  Illinois,  and  that  after 
having  endured  two  different  attacks  on  the  part  of  these 
nations,  they  had  gained  a  thicket  [of  woods]  where  they  had 
fortified  themselves  with  their  families. 

He  immediately  gave  advice  of  this  news  to  M.  de  Noyelles, 
commandant  at  the  Miamis.  He  sent  at  the  same  time  two 
savages  to  the  commandant  of  Detroit,  to  notify  him  of  it, 
and  the  loth  of  the  same  month  he  himself  departed  at  the 
head  of  300  French  or  allied  savages  to  go  to  the  place  where 
the  Foxes  were.  He  found  there  M.  de  St.  Ange,  who  had 
arrived  from  Louisiana  with  100  French  and  400  savages. 

M.  de  Noyelles  also  came  there  with  the  nations  of  his  post, 
so  that  the  troop  was  composed  of  about  1400  men. 

The  Foxes  had  constructed  their  fort  in  a  thicket  situated  on 
the  bank  of  a  river  in  a  vast  prairie.  M.  St.  Ange  had  camped 
at  the  left  of  that  river  and  had  had  redoubts  constructed  in 
order  to  cut  off  the  water  from  the  besieged,  but  these  redoubts 
became  worthless,  the  Foxes  having  found  the  means  of  con 
triving  subterranean  ways  which  communicated  with  the  river. 

M.  de  Villiers  camped  at  the  right  of  their  fort  in  order  to 
assail  it.  He  also  had  two  of  them  constructed  with  a  cavalier 
(a  kind  of  fort  to  protect  advanced  positions),  and,  in  order  to 
approach  the  closest  possible  to  try  to  set  fire  to  it,  he  had  a 
trench  opened.  The  besieged  at  first  opened  a  great  fire  upon 
him,  but  they  soon  sought  to  parley ;  the  savage  nations,  who 
only  wished  to  make  slaves,  proposed  to  him  to  harken  to  them, 


APPENDIX  383 

but  he  constantly  refused,  so  that  they  directed  their  attempts 
in  the  direction  of  M.  St.  Ange,  who  made  them  the  same 
refusal. 

The  besieged  found  themselves  thereby  reduced  to  eating 
their  skin  coverings.  In  spite  of  this  desperate  condition,  they 
held  out  for  twenty-three  days ;  but  on  the  8th  of  September 
there  was  such  a  terrible  storm  and  the  night  was  so  dark  that 
it  was  not  possible  for  M.  de  Villiers  to  induce  the  savages  to 
guard  the  passages. 

The  besieged  profited  by  this  advantage  to  leave  their  fort ; 
but  the  cries  of  their  children  and  a  woman  who  was  going  to 
the  trench  having  made  known  their  flight,  they  were  pursued 
and  overtaken  at  the  break  of  day.  They  were  attacked  with 
vigor  and  put  to  flight ;  200  warriors  were  killed  or  burned ; 
600  women  and  children  met  the  same  fate,  and  this  defeat, 
joined  to  the  other  losses  which  that  nation  had  suffered  in  the 
different  attacks  which  it  had  endured  previously  from  the  part 
of  the  allied  savages,  reduced  it  to  thirty  cabins,  with  a  few 
old  women  without  children  wandering  about  without  provi 
sions  or  ammunition.  The  Illinois  attacked  them*  once  more, 
and  finding  no  refuge  anywhere  they  decided  to  send  two  new 
chiefs  to  M.  le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  in  order  to  ask  their 
lives  of  him. 

In  the  expressions  which  these  two  chiefs  brought  to  him 
from  the  rest  of  the  nations,  they  represented  themselves  as 
victims  worthy  of  death,  and  they  only  asked  grace  in  order  to 
repair  by  their  submission  the  crimes  which  their  obstinacy 
had  caused  them  to  commit.  They  protested  to  him  that  if  in 
the  future  any  guilty  person  was  found  among  them,  they 
would  deliver  him  up  themselves^to  be  punished;  and  for  an 
assurance  of  their  protestations,  they  asked  him  for  some  one 
to  govern  them.  M.  le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois  answered  them 
with  firmness.  He  showed  them  the  infamy  of  their  conduct. 
He  reproached  them  for  their  treachery  and  the  attempts 
which  they  had  made  among  the  Sonontouans  at  the  time 
when  they  were  asking  him  for  peace.  He  told  them  that  he 
wished  other  assurances  of  their  fidelity  than  their  protesta- 

*  According  to  a  letter  from  M.  de  Boishebert,  commandant  at  Detroit, 
of  July  15,  1731,  the  Illinois  killed  on  that  occasion  three  •women  and  made 
prisoners  of  five  men  and  nine  women  and  children. 


384  APPENDIX 

tions  and  their  words;  and  he  required  that  one  of  them  should 
remain  with  him  and  the  other  should  go  fetch  four  of  the 
principal  warriors  of  the  nation  to  come  and  beg  his  pardon 
the  next  year  at  Montreal;  without  which  all  the  miserable 
remainder  should  be  exterminated  without  mercy.  This  con 
dition  having  been  accepted,  one  of  the  chiefs  departed  to  go 
and  inform  his  nation  of  the  answer  of  M.  le  Marquis  de  Beau- 
harnois.  The  other  remained  with  him,  and  the  four  warriors 
were  expected  the  following  spring.  The  savages,  however, 
appear  to  desire  to  destroy  the  race,  and  M.  le  Marquis  de 
Beauharnois  will  keep  them  in  that  disposition  if  that  nation 
fails  in  what  it  has  promised  him. 

This  defeat  has  spread  joy  among  the  nations,  and  last  sum 
mer  there  came  to  Montreal  savages  from  all  parts  to  express 
their  satisfaction  to  M.  le  Marquis  de  Beauharnois,  and  to 
renew  to  him  the  assurance  of  their  fidelity.  He  has  been  all 
the  more  aware  of  it  himself,  as  by  the  resignation  of  all  the 
savages  he  perceives  the  impression  which  that  war  has  made 
upon  their  minds;  and  as  by  that  means  he  finds  himself  in  a 
position  to  work  to  reestablish  in  the  upper  country  the  peace 
which  had  been  interrupted  for  so  long  a  time,  and  to  continue 
our  establishment  there.  It  is  with  that  in  view  that  he  has 
sent  away  this  year  among  the  Sioux  to  reestablish  the  post 
there  which  had  had  to  be  abandoned  on  account  of  the  prox 
imity  of  the  Foxes,  and  he  renewed  to  that  end  the  treaty 
which  had  been  made  at  the  time  of  the  first  establishment  of 
that  post.* 

It  seemed  none  the  less  important  to  think  of  the  post  at  The 
Bay  which  the  proximity  of  the  Foxes  had  also  caused  to  be 
abandoned.  He  sent  there  M.  de  Villiers,  upon  his  return  from 
his  expedition,  to  reestablish  it  as  it  was  before  it  was  evacu 
ated,  in  case  he  found  the  Saks  in  the  disposition  to  also  estab 
lish  their  village  there. 

He  believed  that  he  ought  first  to  provide  for  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  these  two  posts,  the  more  so  as  the  hindrance  which 
the  Foxes  had  occasioned  to  the  one  among  the  Sioux  no  longer 
existing  they  would  be  enabled  to  derive  all  the  advantages 
which  they  expected.  On  the  other  hand,  the  enterprise  of  M. 

*This  treaty  had  been  made  in  1726. 


APPENDIX  385 

de  la  Veranderie  demanded  it,  because  it  is  absolutely  neces 
sary  that  that  nation  should  be  on  our  side  in  order  to  enable 
us  to  be  in  communication  with  the  Assiniboils  and  the 
Cristenaux,  through  whose  territories  it  will  be  necessary  to 
pass  to  discover  the  Ocean  of  the  West.  The  Cristenaux  had 
an  affair  with  the  Sauteurs*  of  the  point  of  Chagoumigon, 
and  killed  a  few  men,  but  he  counts  the  affair  as  settled, 
and  he  will  see  that  the  savages  live  in  peace  in  the 
future.  The  differences  among  these  nations  hindered  all  our 
enterprises  exceedingly,  for  the  success  of  which  there  is  need 
of  tranquillity,  which  he  will  undertake  to  make  more  secure  in 
the  upper  country. 

M.  de  Maurepas,  Minister  of  the  Marine,  divers  functionaries 
of  the  Colony. 

[There  is  one  letter  written  by  Perier  to  Maurepas  in  which 
he  refers  to  the  fact  that  his  son  had  been  sent  to  France  to 
give  a  personal  description  of  the  defeat  of  the  Foxes.  It  was 
a  most  important  defeat,  for  the  Foxes  were  forever  opposing 
the  progress  of  the  French.  ] 

•The  Sauteurs  in  habited  the  region  around  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  hence 
the  name. 


INDEX 


Andrews'  map,  46. 

Allouez  among  the  Foxes,  91, 

97,  107,  118. 
describes  the  Illinois,  109. 

Black  Hawk's  cave,  38,  39. 
Big  Rock  Creek  described,  35. 
Buffalo  Rock,  49,  247. 
Burning  of  criminal  in  Illinois, 

12. 

a  suspect  in  Kansas,  16. 
Burials,  50. 

Bullhead,  the  story  of,  57. 
Burning  of    prisoners,    Illinois 

custom  of,  242. 
Burning  of  prisoners,  origin  of 

custom  of,  90. 
Butte  de  Mort,  196,  229. 

Canons  of  the  Colorado,  in  the, 

10. 
Charlevoix  among  the  western 

tribes,  241. 

describes  the  Pestekouy,  243. 
Crespel's,  Father,  account  of  De 

Lignerie's  expedition,  261. 
Chicagou  portage,  45. 
Chicago,  trails  to,  68. 
Kinzie  takes,  341. 
a  Miami  village,  68,  116,  162, 

178,  193- 

French  post  near,  161. 
why  so  named,  193,  355. 


Crimes  of  to-day,  15. 
Chiefs  of  Maramech,  73. 
Coronelli's  map,  32. 
Commerce,  130. 

Conspiracy  against  the  French, 
305- 

Dance  of  the  calumet,  no. 
De  Lisle's  map,  41. 
De  Lignerie's  expedition,  261. 
De  Villiers  attacks  Sac  fort,  303. 
Detroit,  siege  of,  200,  226. 

English     intrigues     with     the 
Foxes,  145. 

Franquelin's  map  of  1684,  23. 

of  1688,  28. 

Foxes  rob  the  French,  196. 
French  map,  early,  30. 

old,  44. 

Foxes,  defeat  of,  in  1730,  279, 
288. 

village  of  the,  the  deserted, 
312. 

Sioux    tribes    unite    against, 

239- 

first  heard  of,  80. 
Fox  tribe,  first  accounts  of,  79. 
Fort  St.  Louis,  25,  68,  248  (see 

maps  23  to  31). 

French,  prejudice  against  the, 
113- 


387 


388 


INDEX 


French,  menaced  by  Foxes  and 

others,  163. 
Foxes    and    Sacs    against    the 

Ojibwas,  88. 
Foxes    against    the     Sauteurs, 

155- 

Foxes,  branch  of,  located  near 
Chicago,  232. 

afraid  of  treachery,  266. 

attack  the  Illinois,  267. 

warred  against  by  the  French, 
269,  272. 

attacked  by  Iroquois,  302. 

attacked  by  Ojibwas,  311. 

attacked  by  Marin,  273. 

part  remove  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  313. 

mentioned  by  Drake,  314. 

mentioned    by    Lieut.    Pike, 

314- 

mentioned  by  Clark,  315. 
various  opinions  of,  316. 
and  Sacs  in  the  War  of  1812, 

316. 

Fox  chief's  son  goes  to  Mon 
treal,  190. 
Foxes,    French    expedition 

against,  237. 
poverty  of,  172. 
De      Lignerie's      expedition 

against,  257. 
and  Sacs  attack  the  Mascou- 

tins,  321. 
and  Sacs  attack  the  Peorias, 

321. 
Fox     reservation     at     Tama, 

Iowa,  343. 
Foxes,  defeat  of  the,  traditions 

of,  345- 


Foxes  with  Black  Hawk,  352. 

Gibson's  map,  33. 
Guiguas,  Father,  captured,  235. 
opinion  of  the  Foxes,  269. 

Happy  hunting-ground,  51. 
Hennepin's  map,  40. 
Hennepin  at  the   Falls  of  St. 

Anthony,  143. 
Hunters,  the  story  of  the,  62. 

Indians,  their  better  natures 
and  schooling,  9,  n,  13,  16, 
18,  143. 

Indian  lands  purchased,  329. 

Illinois,  various  tribes  against, 

233- 
Illinois    attacked  by   Iroquois, 

134- 

attack  the  Iroquois,  136. 
Illinois,     confederated     tribes, 

120. 
Iroquois,      defeated     by      the 

Foxes,  137. 
western  limit  of  claims,  152. 

Joliet's  map,  25. 

Kalamazoo  river  not  the  vil 
lage  of  Maramech,  70-75. 

Kilatikas,  49,  120. 

Kishwaukee  trail,  42. 

Kinzie's  trip  over  the  trails, 
333- 

La  Salle's  expeditions,  24. 
colony,  map  of,  23,  71. 
robbed  by  the  Foxes,  130. 


INDEX 


389 


Lanman's  map  referred  to,  26. 
Lead    mines    worked    by    the 

Foxes,  325,  327. 
Lenox  Library  map,  50. 
Little  Rock  Creek  described,  35. 
Long-haired,  the  hermit,  story 

of,  55- 


Maps: 

Franquelin's,  1684,  23. 

1688,  38. 
Shafer's,  47. 
Andrews',  46. 
Hennepin's,  40. 
De  Lisle's,  41. 
Tillman's,  31. 
Site  of  Maramech,  21. 
Thevenot's,  27. 
Lenox  Library,  50. 
Popple's,  29. 
Old  French,  30. 
Joliet's,  25. 
Coronelli's,  32. 
Gibson's,  33. 
Old  French  map,  44. 
Maramech   hill,   Popple's  map 

showing,  29. 
Maramech    (Maramea-Maraux) 

first  learned  of,  116. 
Maramech,  discovery  of  site  of, 

22. 
site  of,  shown  on  map,  23,  28, 

29,  30,  31- 

site  of,  described,  32,  36,  75. 
Perrot  recruits  at,  164. 
Feast  at,  167,  177. 
M  iami  s  urged  to  abandon  ,172. 
where  located,  70,  181. 


Maramech,    Miamis    requested 

to  settle  at,  188. 

site  of,  Kinzie  at,  336,  338. 

site  of,  the  last  red  resident 

at,  336. 
Mascoutin  chief  meets  Perrot 

at,  189. 
Marquette  at  the  Illinois  town, 

119. 
Shea's    unwarranted   claims 

for,  26. 

Medicines,  presents  as,  173. 
Miamis  on  the  St.  Joseph  river, 

119. 

Miamis,  branches  of  the,  120. 
Mississippi  river,   discovery  of, 

127. 

Allouez  learns  of,  116. 
Maramech,  Miamis  of,  ordered 

by  chief  to  build  fort,  189. 
Mortuary  customs,  50. 
Morand's  expedition,  197. 

Negro  slavery  at  Kaskaskia,  276. 
Nicolet,  95. 
at  the  Mississippi  river,  44. 

Old  French  map,  30. 
Ouchegamie-Outagamie,  82. 

Paris  documents,  360. 
Pepikokias,  49,  120. 
Pestekouy  (Fox  river),  25,  39. 
Perrot   commissioned,    70,    73, 

146. 
Perrot,  among  the  Sauteurs,  147. 

at  the  Fox  village,  156. 

proposed  speech  of,  157. 

a  prisoner,  165. 

rescued,  166. 


390 


INDEX 


Perrot,  at  Maramech,  164,  167, 

169,  175. 
arrives     at     Montreal     with 

western  tribes,  179,  194. 
at  the  Sioux,  184. 
Mascoutins    attempt    to  am 
bush,  1 88. 

at  the  lead  mines,  325. 
Pistakee  lake,  25,  244. 
Pinart's    reproduction    of    old 

French  map,  44. 
Popple's  map,  29. 

Racine  portage,  42. 
Red  Banks,  82. 

Starved  Rock,  68,  245,  246,  247, 

248,  252,  253,  255,  256. 
Sacs,  people  of  the  yellow  earth, 

87- 

Shafer's  map,  47. 
Saint  Marks,  mission  of,    103, 

107,  120,  121,  129. 
Saint  Ange,  march  of,  276. 
Shaubena,  352,  353. 
Sauk  and  Fox  trail,  39,  67,  68. 


Sioux  attacked  by  Mascoutins 

and  Foxes,  182. 
Siege,  the,  288. 

Taking  possession  of  the  west, 

117. 
Tama,  Iowa,  Fox  reservation, 

343- 

Traffic  of  the  trails,  331. 
Treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  320. 

Foxes  at,  321. 
The  trails,   Kinzie's  trip  over, 

333- 
The   Rock  of    Fox    river,   38, 

39- 

Thevenot's  map,  27,  128. 
Tonty,  68. 
Tonty  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  ordered 

by  Iroquois  to  leave,  256. 
Torture  of  captives,  88,  89. 
Tillman's  map,  31. 

Wa-sa-ri,  the  story  of,  57. 
Wa-sa-ka,  the  story  of,  59. 
Waubansie,  352. 
Witches,  burning  of,  n. 


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